


all at once

by quietsharpeheart



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Wonder Woman (Movies - Jenkins)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avalance/Wonder Woman, F/F, Mutual Pining, Time Wives get another Time Wife, just a little drama and a whole lot of fun, no unrequited feelings here, season four au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-22 09:56:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 46,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22714222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quietsharpeheart/pseuds/quietsharpeheart
Summary: Sara and Ava meet a wonder of a woman and it marks a turning point in their relationship.(or: Sara and Ava are both stupid smitten with Diana but also completely unprepared to deal with it.)
Relationships: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Ava Sharpe, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Sara Lance, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 32
Kudos: 123





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this idea since the Helen of Troy episode aired but only just recently had the urge to write it out.  
> I have a handful of chapters somewhat planned but we'll see where this goes!

_Normandy, 1944_

Why is it always World War II?

It feels like they get suckered back into this era more often than any other and frankly Sara was getting tired of it. This war might make for exciting onscreen entertainment but she's seen enough of it to know how dark and depressing the reality of it really is. 

The only upside was getting to punch Nazis.

That never got old.

Sara wishes she was doing more of it, or doing it at all, really.

The fugitive they're dealing with is not a Nazi but a succubus with one hell of an appetite. Though with the amount of casualties she's causing to the Allied side, she might as well be one.

According to Gideon, the succubus' interference is enough to cost them the entire war, but the stakes aren't anything they haven't heard before.

It's practically déjà vu at this point.

As usual, Sara takes the lead out on the field while this time Zari stays behind to quarterback with Nate, who definitely left the team but has since developed a habit of taking all his Time Bureau lunch breaks on the Waverider.

Not that Sara minds it. She knows he's struggling with quitting the Legends cold turkey.

With Ray acting as the bait, and everyone else standing by to make sure he doesn't end up anything more than that, they're able to lure their fugitive out of hiding.

That's when a fight breaks out because when does it not? No magical creature ever wants anything to do with the Legends no matter how hard they try to reason with it.

And Constantine sure doesn't help things with his threats of dragging her back to Hell.

To complicate matters it's not just the succubus they have to face off with but all the soldiers she's put under her thrall. According to Constantine, Succubi don't just seduce with their touch but manipulate with it too, weakening their prey's resistance to the point where they will do anything she wants.

It's a smart move, Sara will give her that, keeping those she hasn't drained alive to serve as her protection.

But this she demon doesn't even need it.

The succubus may look the part of a small and dainty wartime nurse but she's insanely strong, apparently roided up on all the human energy she's been feeding off of.

Sara learns this the hard way when they're fighting and she's cast aside by the succubus and it's one of the farthest and most excruciating landings she's had in a very long time.

Sara loses consciousness for a second there but quickly regains it, startled by all the German being shouted around her.

And, you know, the gunfire.

_Unbelievable._

That little she demon really threw her right to the Germans, huh?

No matter.

Close combat is what Sara excels at. 

Sara pulls her batons out of her era appropriate uniform and connects them into her bo staff just in time to deflect a round of bullets. She makes short work of the few soldiers in front of her and is just about to take out the guy manning the machine gun when he rears backward with a shout, his horrified gaze cast to the sky as if he'd just spotted his maker.

Sara can't help but look up too and it's just in time to watch a woman descend from out of nowhere and strike at the machine gun with her shield, effortlessly destroying it.

Whatever breath Sara had left in her lungs promptly gets caught in her throat as the woman straightens up to her full height.

_Oh damn, she's tall._

The woman turns her head as if she'd heard that thought and Sara freezes as a result, completely forgetting that she hadn't even spoken aloud so there's no way—

"Behind you."

Sara whips around, simultaneously snapping out her daze and scolding herself for getting distracted in the first place.

She kicks the gun of the soldier's hand and uses her staff to strike at his head, chest, and knees in quick succession.

" _Sara, do you copy? Sara, do you copy? Sara?_ " 

Sara's head lifts at the sound of Zari's voice, searching, until she remembers the comm in her ear.

"Hey, Z. I'm fine."

Sara twirls her staff around and knocks out another soldier. 

" _Where the hell are you?_ "

"I got separated from the group but I'm fine." Sara ducks out of the way and blocks a soldier from bringing his gun down on her before sweeping his ankles out from under him.

" _You see you keep saying that but all I'm hearing is very heavy military fire._ "

Sara hears those same bullets being fired but unlike Zari, she's also hearing those bullets ricocheting, off the mystery woman's shield no doubt.

"Don't worry, I've got backup."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sara catches a soldier being kicked into the wall of sandbags several yards away and slumping against it like a rag doll.

" _Backup? Who? The others are—_ "

Sara shuts off her comm without another word. She can't think and fight _and_ have Zari in her head all at the same time.

Sara uses a hunched over soldier as leverage and vaults over him to knock down his comrade, then whips around to kick another in the head.

The commotion keeps drawing more and more soldiers to their area, requiring Sara's full attention now more than ever, but even as Sara continues fighting, she finds herself unable to stop clocking the mystery woman's movements too. 

Well, those Sara could see, anyways. 

At some points, she was just a blur of red, gold, and blue, moving at a speed that would give Barry Allen a run for his money.

But those moves Sara does catch?

Her crushing their guns with her bare hands like they're tin cans?

Her kicking off the walls and spinning in the air with as much grace and precision as a ballerina?

Her throwing her shield and watching it defy all kinds of physics as it reverberates off soldiers like a pinball?

Well let's just say Sara finds herself breathless and panting in ways that have nothing to do with the Nazis currently trying to kill her.

_Now is so not the time, Sara._

It's really not. For so many reasons.

Whether intentionally or not, the fighting has them gravitating closer and closer to each other, up until the point where they're actually fighting back to back.

"League of Assassins?" the mystery woman asks, and for the first time Sara falters.

"What?"

"Your fighting style." the woman clarifies.

Sara tries to turn her head but there's too much going on to properly stop and look over her shoulder. "How do you know about the League?"

"I've been doing this for a long time." the woman answers, and that Sara believes. Only someone with extensive training would be able to fight the way she does. "When your duty to this world is to protect it you often cross paths with those who want to harm." 

Sara snap kicks away a fast approaching soldier. "I take it you're not a fan?"

"No, but I cannot deny that they are some of the most formidable humans I've ever met."

Now Sara's curiosity is piqued. A person doesn't just _meet_ the League and live to talk about them so casually.

"Who are you exactly?"

Sara keeps trying to get a better look at the woman between Nazis but it's not working out so well.

"I am Diana, and you?"

"Sara." 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sara."

Sara is wildly unprepared for the intense fluttery feeling in her stomach that comes from Diana's accented voice speaking her name.

"Likewise." she eventually manages.

They're both a little busy to shake hands so they settle for a quick clink of weapons, shield against baton.

The fighting continues and though Sara's thoroughly enjoying this team up with Diana, she also really just wants to put aside the weapons and talk to her for two seconds. She has so many questions running through her mind and the fact that she was no closer to getting them answered was starting to frustrate the hell out of her.

Stupid Nazis.

"I beg your pardon?" Diana inquires, despite her amused tone clearly indicating that she'd heard Sara perfectly.

_So I said that out loud, apparently._

"As if you aren't thinking the same thing." Sara huffs, not just out of embarrassment, but due to the fact that her pinned updo has completely fallen apart, forcing her to keep tossing her head back to keep the hair out of her face. It was getting super annoying.

"Actually I am thinking of how much you look like a little blonde sheep dog right now." Diana teases.

Sara scoffs back at her and swiftly elbows Diana in the side.

A move Sara instantly regrets when she's met with hard, unforgiving armor.

Sara inhales sharply at the blinding pain that shoots down her forearm. "Oh, that was stupid," she gasps, "very, very stupid."

This is what she gets for trying to be chummy and treat Diana like she's just another one of the Legends.

Before Sara can completely double over in pain, Diana guides her to rest against one of the sandbag fortifications. "You did not realize..."

"More like just forgot." Sara corrects irritably, still wincing and clutching her funny bone.

She's been watching bullets bounce off Diana this whole time, of course she knew that shiny red top of hers wasn't fabric.

Sara blows out a breath, trying to compose herself fast. If not for the sake of her pride, then for Diana's sake. Sara had no intention of letting her finish off these assholes on her own.

(Even if she was completely and utterly capable of it).

When the pain finally subsides, Sara lifts her head and startles at just how close Diana is to her.

_Woah there._

Sara instinctively tries to put some distance between them but there's nowhere for her to go, Diana already has her up against the wall.

"Apologies," Diana says, registering Sara's unease.

But Sara's discomfort is short lived, quickly morphing into awe at the sight of Diana with her shield raised casually held above their heads with one arm, as if protecting Sara from inconvenient weather rather than an assault of German gunfire, and her other arm moving at a blinding speed to deflect every single bullet that was coming their way from the other direction.

If Sara wasn't so accustomed to the weird and unbelievable, she'd be certain she was hallucinating right now.

"Are you a...?"

Sara doesn't even know how to finish that thought. She has no idea what to even begin to categorize this woman as. (Aside from the obvious— _a total babe_ ).

"Am I, what?" Diana gently prompts her.

Sara shakes her head wordlessly.

For all her talk of burning questions, none of them seemed to be coming to mind when she wanted them to.

Sara's gaze lowers from Diana's face. With their height difference, her eye level lands at Diana's chest, and it delays her thought process by a second or two.

"Are you apart of the JSA?" 

It feels like a stupid question, but Diana's armor looks vaguely familiar now that Sara's able to see it up close and with the golden eagle atop her red bodice, it's definitely patriotic looking enough to fit in with the members of the Justice Society of America.

Diana shakes her head. "No."

But her amused smile tells Sara that she at least knows _of_ them.

Sara exhales deeply.

_God, that smile._

As soon as the thought crosses Sara's mind, her eyes widen briefly with panic.

"So, yeah," Sara awkwardly clears her throat and shakes her head because those kind of thoughts are definitely not ones she's looking to indulge. "I really need to get back to my team."

Diana understands. "Now would be the time to do so." She tips her head to the side, explaining, "Our German friends have started to bring out their so-called big guns."

Sara nods firmly. She glances between sides, assessing the numbers.

"So how do you want to do this?"

Sara's well prepared to fight her way out of this but they're gonna need more of a strategy this time.

Diana, on the other hand, seems to have other ideas.

"Hold onto me."

Sara double takes, certain she'd heard wrong. "Wait, what?"

But Diana's already wrapping Sara's arms around her neck, shouldering her shield, and it's all Sara can do just to hang on as Diana leaps up into the air.

In contrast to their rocket launch of a takeoff, their landing is as gentle and gradual as a floating feather.

Not that Sara's stomach isn't still reeling.

"Okay, is there anything you _can't_ do?" 

"I cannot sew very well." Diana answers honestly.

Sara's still hanging from her neck but Diana leans over to accommodate her, allowing Sara to easily detach and not just _drop_ back to her feet.

"Is that your team?"

Sara catches Diana's look of concern and turns over her shoulder. Sara already knew it would be them as soon as the question left Diana's lips, but nonetheless she follows Diana's gaze and sure enough, there were the Legends brawling with the Allied soldiers.

"Yeah, that's them." Sara reluctantly admits.

Diana quirks her brow. "They seem to be the aggressors."

"Those soldiers started it, trust me." Sara gets out her batons again, ready to finish this mission once and for all.

"Why would they attack your team?" Diana frowns, trying to understand.

Sara hesitates. She really shouldn't be going into mission details, but what the hell. "Would you believe mind control?"

She glances back at Diana, expecting some level of incredulity but apparently mind control is common place in Diana's world, wherever that was.

Diana simply nods, accepting Sara's words as truth. "Who is controlling them?"

Sara scans the area before spotting their fugitive. "That feral looking one over there." she points.

Diana follows her gaze. "The one with the brown curls spitting obscenities?"

"No, that's just Charlie."

"The one with the glowing eyes muttering incantations?"

"No, that's John." Sara can't stop her smile at Diana's light exasperation. "You see that redhead in the nurse's uniform?" Diana nods. "She's the reason we're here. She's actually a succubus."

"That's about one of the last creatures you would want near an encampment of men." Diana observes. "Now I understand things better."

Sara wished she could say the same. But every time Diana opened her mouth, all Sara was left with was more and more questions.

"Your friends look like they could use our assistance."

Sara nods in agreement, her mind already running through the best ways to wrangle their annoying little fugitive.

"We should definitely..." Sara trails off, distracted by the length of rope Diana was unfurling from her waist.

Sara's seen plenty of warriors make use of rope as a weapon on the fly but she's never seen one carry it on them as a preference.

Not that Sara's judging or anything. It's definitely the weapon to use if you wanna wrangle someone.

Diana gives the rope a firm shake and Sara's certain her eyes double their size when it suddenly comes alive, shining as if actual sunlight had been woven into its fibers.

_Woah_ —

"So is this like a special occasion or does it always do that?" Sara asks, vaguely gesturing to the rope's glowing state.

Diana chuckles. "It only does this when touched."

"Huh." 

Time seems to slow as Sara watches the golden coil slide through Diana's hands and wrap around her fist. The motion sends a shiver down her spine and before long Sara's mind starts wandering with wildly inappropriate thoughts.

Diana notices her rapt attention and smiles.

"Would you like to...?"

Diana offers the lasso to her and Sara's heart jumps up into her throat.

_Would I like to have you tie me up with that? Why yes, yes I definitely would._

Sara's whole body tenses and she quickly turns away from that thought. "You know, I'm good. I got my, you know," Sara lifts up her batons awkwardly, their name suddenly escaping her. "And we should really..." Words fail her as she gestures back to her still struggling team.

"As you wish."

Sara purses her lips at that response, fighting back against all the unwanted emotions that surge up. As a kid who grew up on _The Princess Bride_ , hearing those words always sent her heart aflutter and now was no different.

But now was neither the time nor the place and Diana sure as hell was not the woman to be having any type of feelings about.

Shaking her head, Sara blows out a fortifying breath before following Diana back into the fight.

—

When it's all over and done with and the succubus is back where she belongs, Sara can't help but notice something.

Well, two somethings actually. But one of those she'll deal with back at the medbay.

Sara walks over to where Diana is reattaching her rope — no, _lasso_ — to her belt. Sara's hand rests carefully over her side as she moves. When she stops next to Diana, she makes sure to shift her weight, hoping to make her hand placement appear more casual than it actually is.

"You know, you don't seem at all fazed that we just sent a demon to hell."

"I have dealt with otherworldly things before." Diana answers casually, shrugging her shoulders as if this were just another Tuesday.

Sara smiles incredulously at her, her head shaking. "Are you ever gonna tell me where you're from?"

"That depends." Diana lifts her gaze and tilts her head inquiringly. "Are you going to ever ask me where I am from?"

"Right." Sara scrunches her nose, suddenly embarrassed. "I walked right into that one. Sorry— _ah!_ "

Sara's breath hitches from a sharp stab of pain and Diana's smile falls. "You are hurt." she realizes.

"It's okay. I'm fine, really." Sara assures, as Diana moves closer. "As far as battle wounds go, it's just a scratch."

It's nothing Gideon won't be able to patch up.

But Diana looks skeptical. Sara would too if she were in her shoes. "I don't know where you come from, but where I come from mere scratches do not cause one to bleed so heavily."

Sara looks down at herself and sure enough, the blood spot that had been easy to cover moments ago was now spreading well past the concealment of her hand.

Sara rolls her eyes, suddenly more annoyed than anything. "See, this is why I hate guns." she huffs. "They're a—"

"Coward's weapon." Diana finishes for her, and Sara blinks in surprise.

"Yeah. Exactly."

"You need immediate medical attention." Diana declares with urgency.

Sara tries protesting but it's too late, Diana already has scooped her up in her arms.

Sara bites her lip at the jostling and grabs at Diana's shoulder for stability. "Diana, I promise you, I'll be fine."

But Diana isn't listening, she just proceeds to march through the camp in search of the medical tent.

"Me and my friends, we've got out own setup," Sara looks over her shoulder quickly, shouting back at her team, "Guys! A little help here!" 

Constantine's the first to get to her. He steps in front of Diana's path, which is probably not the smartest thing to do, if Diana's fierce determination was any indication.

"We can take it from here, love." he says nonetheless, beckoning her to hand over Sara.

Diana bristles at his sudden closeness but does not take a step back. "I have every intention of seeing to it that she receives the necessary treatment. I would caution you not to interfere."

"Just lead her to the Waverider." Sara sighs in exasperation, interrupting Constantine and the others arguing on her behalf.

The team looks hesitant to oblige but do so anyways.

"It'll be fine," Ray assures the others, "We can always, you know," Ray mimes a finger-gun before stage whispering, "Flash her later."

"Excuse me?" Diana turns to him sharply.

Ray's eyes widen with a loud gulp.

Sara groans. Both from their conversation and the blood loss. Her head lolls sideways against Diana's shoulder. "I swear he didn't mean it like that."

Diana reluctantly agrees to follow them to the Waverider but not before shaking her head and muttering something under her breath.

Sara lifts her head from Diana's shoulder, her brow pinching together.

_Wait, was that Greek?_

Just as Sara looks up at Diana, she hears Ray order Gideon to lower the Waverider's cloaking defenses.

It's then that Diana suddenly stops walking.

Sara grins helplessly at her astonished expression.

"Where exactly are _you_ from?" Diana questions curiously, her gaze dropping back down to Sara.

"Star City." Sara answers honestly, the edge of her mouth quirking up.

"So you are from the stars?"

Sara's not sure if Diana's just teasing her or honestly asking. Either way Sara is utterly charmed.

"Not exactly." Sara chuckles.

Diana doesn't look quite convinced. "Are you quite certain about that?" Diana tilts her head, still regarding her with a smile, "Because your eyes have a twinkle that is very reminiscent of starlight to me."

It hurts like hell to laugh but Sara couldn't fight it if she tried. "I'm pretty sure that _twinkle's_ just me trying to stay conscious."

Diana laughs and god, if it's not one of the best things Sara's ever heard. It puts such a stupidly large smile to her face that for a moment she forgets the pain and the bleeding.

But then they're on the Waverider and Zari is there with Nate in his Time Bureau suit, and all at once Sara's reminded of Ava and the smile drops right off her face.

_Oh, god, what the hell am I doing?_

  
—

Even though the sight of Constantine banishing a demon to Hell didn't faze Diana, Sara had thought maybe learning about the existence of time travel and future technology might, but no. If anything Diana was concerned with Sara's well-being and only that.

(Which doesn't make Sara feel any kind of special way. At all.)

Sara's just glad her wound takes very little time for Gideon to heal so she doesn't have to deal with Diana's towering presence for too long. Her unwavering gaze has Sara's heart thumping wildly and it quickly sends her reeling with both embarrassment and shame.

This the first time someone other than Ava has made her pulse race since they got together and it is not okay. At all.

Sara doesn't want this feeling. She _loves_ Ava.

And she has no intention of giving Ava any reason to doubt her or doubt them.

Afterward, Sara's meant to lead Diana out of the medbay and back to the bridge but her anxiety has her pretty much hurrying down the hallway without her. 

"Sara?"

Sara's eyes snap shut at the sound. _God, it should be illegal for her name to sound that good coming out of someone's mouth._

Turning back around goes against Sara's better judgment but rationally she knows Diana has done nothing to deserve her cold shoulder so Sara stops and lets Diana approach her.

_Just breathe, Lance. Just breathe._

"I apologize if my attention has made you uncomfortable," Diana starts off, "It was not my intention to do so. You see, your fierceness out on the battlefield reminded me of my aunt, Antiope, and when I saw you injured that too reminded me of her and of the helplessness I felt when she died in my arms."

For a moment Sara just stares.

Whatever she'd expected Diana to say, that definitely wasn't it.

"That's—" Sara shakes her head, trying to find the right words to start. "I'm sorry to hear that. I know that type of lost all too well. Not being able to save the ones you love is one of the hardest things to have to learn to live with."

Diana nods solemnly. "Agreed."

Sara fiddles with her hands nervously. "I'm sorry for acting so weird in the medbay or for coming across as ungrateful, I— "

_I'm just not used to being so ridiculously attracted to someone who's not my girlfriend._

"I just don't like being made a fuss over, you know?" Sara wisely says instead. "I'm the captain of this ship, I'm the one who's supposed to do the fussing—"

"You are a captain?" Diana interrupts, and Sara nods.

"Not like in the military sense, or anything," she's quick to clarify, "just in the sense of _someone needs to step up and be the leader of this time traveling clown car_."

Smiling to herself, Sara meets Diana's gaze again, expecting to share it with her, only to find her strangely somber.

"What?"

The far off look of hers brings a sinking feeling to the pit of Sara's stomach.

Crap, what did she say wrong?

"Nothing." Diana assures, lightly shaking her head.

Her smile is far from convincing, but Sara isn't about to call her out on it. If they were closer, maybe.

"It just seems that I have a habit of rescuing captains."

Diana looks away briefly and Sara simply nods, understanding that it's a sensitive subject.

"To be clear though, you weren't really rescuing me." Sara feels the need to point out, if only just to try and lighten the moment. "You were _helping_ me. Big difference."

Diana's true smile returns at her teasing and Sara can't help feeling proud of herself.

"If you say so, Captain."

Sara exhales deeply as they make their way to the bridge.

She's well aware that she's enjoying Diana's attention way too much to be considered no big deal. She just wished she knew how to make it stop.

"Feeling better, Cap?" Nate asks, when she re-enters the room with Diana.

"How could she not with a nurse who looks like that?" Charlie quips, indicating Diana with a smirk. 

Sara just throws her a warning look from across the console.

"Uh, Captain," Sara barely gets the chance to turn her head before Ray sidles up to her, "Just letting you that I kind of notified Ava that you'd gotten hurt..."

Sara's heart seizes. Ava knowing about all this was the last thing she wanted.

"Damnit, Ray!"

She rounds on him, smacking his arm. Her head shakes incredulously as she looks between him and the others. "What have I told you guys about unnecessarily worrying Ava?" 

"To not do it." answers the rest of the team in monotone unison. They've all heard this lecture a million times before.

_And yet they still do it._ Sara thinks with an eye roll. _It's like Ava's stress levels mean nothing to them. Just because she's almost always stressed doesn't give them the right to add to it!_

"Look, Sara. I'm sorry." Ray apologizes earnestly. "But Ava told me to _always_ tell her if and when you got hurt on missions, and though I know you're my captain, she's basically Mrs. Captain, and frankly she scares me a lot more than you do these days."

"Excuse me?" Sara's eyes narrow at that remark. "Hold up, how in the hell is Ava scarier than me? I literally used to be an assassin!"

" _Used to_ being the operative words." Ray explains, before quickly shrinking under Sara's withering glare. "No offense."

Before Sara can reply, a time portal opens up to their left and Ava walks through with Gary at her heels.

Sara points at Ray sternly, warning him, _this isn't over_.

Ray nods quickly and turns back around only to just barely avoid being knocked aside by Ava.

"Sara!"

Ava wastes no time in closing the distance between them. "Ray said you were hurt."

They both exhale in unison as they embrace. Ava out of relief to find Sara in one piece, Sara out of relief that, despite today's events, the sight of Ava still filled her with as much love and warmth and happiness as it did this morning when she woke up in her arms.

Ava pulls away from the hug first and Sara resigns herself to another examination as Ava's concerned eyes rove over her body.

Seeing Ava's eyes widen at the sight of the blood stain on Sara's shirt, Sara lifts up the edge of it to show her the healed wound. "I'm fine, see? Gideon took good care of me."

"What have I told you about being more careful?" Ava sighs, her gaze lifting back to Sara's face.

"That I should try it sometime." Sara smiles wryly.

Ava shakes her head at her, smiling in spite of herself. Her mouth opens to reply but her eyes find Diana instead.

Ava blinks for a moment, seemingly taken aback by Diana's, well, _everything_.

"Is she the fugitive you guys were dealing with?" Ava asks Sara quietly in confusion.

Having been watching their interaction, Diana merely tilts her head at the unfamiliar term.

"No, babe, this is Diana." Sara falters a little under her girlfriend's inquiring gaze, suddenly nervous. "She's uh, she's the one who—" 

"Who took you in her arms and had you swooning like a heroine out of Mick's novels?" Charlie teases.

_Oh God._

Sara's eyes shut briefly.

_Welp_ , Sara thinks. It's finally come time to take the 'reformed' out of her _reformed assassin_ title. She knew it was bound to happen eventually.

Sorry Charlie, but it was fun having you on the team while it lasted.

"I was _going_ to say she's the one who helped out with the mission." Sara grits out, her eyes flashing open to glare daggers at Charlie. She turns back to Ava, wincing only slightly at the severity of that raised eyebrow of hers. "Don't listen to her, I was not swooning."

"But you _were_ in her arms." Ava has to clarify.

"Tread carefully, love." John warns Sara with a smirk, obviously enjoying watching this play out. "Last thing you want is to end up in the doghouse."

Sara just ignores him.

"For like, two seconds," she admits to Ava, panicking at the growing hurt she sees reflected back at her, "but it was while I was bleeding out. It was very awkward and gross."

_The furthest thing from romantic that you could get!_

"Sara!" Mona scolds out of nowhere. "You did not just describe the embrace of an Amazon as _very awkward and gross_."

Both Sara and Ava stop and turn their heads toward Mona, their eyebrows furrowing quizzically.

"A _what?_ " Ava questions.

Diana looks down at Mona, surprise coloring her tone, "How did you know what I am, little one?"

Mona's face starts reddening from everyone's sudden attention. "Well, between the Greco-Roman influences of your armor and your height, not to mention the size of your muscles, it wasn't that hard a puzzle to piece together." Mona explains with a modest shrug. "By the way, hi, I'm Mona."

Diana steps forward with a serene smile and politely shakes Mona's hand, "Hello, Mona. I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons."

"Wow, that's a mouthful." Ray comments, but looks delighted.

At the same time, Zari spits out her water across the center console, her eyes going wide from a sudden realization.

Sara catches the name too.

_Themyscira_.

She's heard that name before.

Sara thinks back on it and suddenly it clicks together, why Diana's armor looked so familiar. It's because she's seen that style before. They all have.

"Z, isn't Themyscira where you sent Helen of Troy?" 

"Uh, yeah. Maybe." Zari answers reluctantly, grimacing from either the embarrassing spit-take or the several pairs of eyes now focused on her. Or both.

"No wonder Helen turned into such a badass warrior." Nate exclaims, the light bulb going off in that perfectly coiffed head of his. "That island you sent her to was the home of the Amazons! The most famous tribe of warrior women in history! Zari, you're a genius!"

Nate whips around and kisses her head, an embrace Zari immediately squirms away from like a disgusted little sister.

"So she's like a real life Xena: Warrior Princess." Mick murmurs, lifting his beer with an approving grunt. "That's hot."

Diana stands with her hands on her hips, obviously trying to make sense of all this new information. "Wait, _you_ are Zari?"

Zari's eyebrows practically shoot up off her forehead when Diana addresses her personally.

"Helen spoke of you dearly on Themyscira." Diana explains at Zari's resulting silence. "She said you helped her escape Troy."

Charlie quirks her brow at this information and not so subtly nudges Zari.

"Technically it was 1937 Hollywood." Ray can't help but correct, earning himself several eye rolls.

"Wait, Helen really mentioned me?" Zari questions, sounding kind of doubtful but also a little pleased.

Sara can't help her smirk. So Zari had a thing for the Trojan princess after all. She totally knew it.

Diana nods. "She told us the gods sent her to us for her protection and to prevent any more wars, but that she was aided personally by a mortal woman named Zari."

"Well, no gods here, just legends." beams Ray, his arms outstretched proudly.

In that moment Sara realizes that in all the chaos she never properly introduced Diana to her team. "Otherwise known as Ray, Nate, Charlie, Zari, Mona, Mick, and John." she says, pointing out each one by name.

Above their heads Gideon clears her throat quite indignantly.

"And Gideon, of course." Sara adds, with a playful glance directed up at the ceiling.

"But of course." Diana echoes with a bright smile, the two of them having bonded while Sara was in the medbay. "One cannot forget someone so important as Gideon."

" _Oh, Diana._ "

Gideon's girlish giggle has just about everyone raising their heads in surprise. They've definitely never heard her do _that_ before.

Meanwhile Gary steps forward to introduce himself. "And I am Gary. Of the Green." he says to Diana before dipping his head in a bow that also somehow manages to be a curtsy. "Your highness."

Just about everyone rolls their eyes behind his back but Diana smiles politely as she shakes his outstretched hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gary. And please, call me Diana."

And Sara thought Gary gave _Constantine_ some serious moon eyes.

Chuckling to herself, Sara steps forward and clasps Gary firmly on the shoulder to bring him back to reality and get him to release Diana's hand. A second longer and he probably would've dropped to his knees and proposed marriage.

Diana stops and turns to look at the rest of the team properly for the first time. "And you are all time travelers, from the future?" she wants to clarify.

"Yep." Sara nods.

Diana's gaze lands back on Ava. "As well as you...?"

Ava merely stares at her for a second, unprepared for Diana's sudden attention. But then she remembers herself and clears her throat, supplying in her best professional Director Sharpe voice, "Ava Sharpe."

"I'm afraid I am not familiar with your crest." Diana replies, after they shake hands.

"My—" Ava's eyebrows pull together in confusion before she follows Diana's gaze and realizes she was referring to the Time Bureau pin on her lapel. "Oh, I'm Director of the Time Bureau."

"Is that some kind of FBI division in the future?" Diana questions.

"More or less, yeah." Ava replies softly, distractedly. "We, uh, we..."

Sara smiles fondly as she watches Ava struggle with her words.

_Prolonged eye contact with Diana - yeah, that's a sure fire way to lose your train of thought, babe._

Sara gives her a couple seconds before swooping in to put her out of her babbling misery.

"Basically she does what we do." Sara explains to Diana.

"Yeah, only she gets paid to do this." rumbles Mick.

Rolling her eyes, Sara's gaze falls back to her girlfriend.

Ava's lips were pressed together in a frown and her arms had come to rest across her chest defensively. She'd obviously recovered from her Diana induced daze but looked no less okay with the fact that it'd happened in the first place.

"For what purpose exactly do you all time travel for?" Diana wonders, glancing between the group for an answer.

"To protect the timeline." Ray answers brightly, all too eager to explain, "You see, a year ago we kinda broke time and caused this demon Mallus to gain power. But the only way to destroy him was to first free him from his extra-temporal prison dimension, so we did. But in doing that we inadvertently opened a door between his realm and ours, so now all these banished mythical creatures, we call them _fugitives_ , have been popping up throughout time. Our job is to stop them from altering history."

Diana quirks an eyebrow and nods, intrigued. "And you stop them all in the same manner?"

"What we do with them kind of varies case by case." Ray admits. "The more dangerous ones get banished to Hell—"

"Like the unicorn that took my nipple." Gary supplies helpfully, and Ava has to slap his hand away from his chest before he can show Diana the proof of it.

"Yes, like the unicorn and the succubus, as you witnessed." Ray nods. "Others, like Charlie here, we adopt into the fold."

"Oi." Ray grunts at the sharp elbow he receives to the ribs from Charlie. "I ain't no one's pet, _Rage_. I'm no bloody corgi."

"Sorry, but what is it that do you do exactly?" Ava abruptly asks, her heated gaze shifting back to Diana.

Sara sighs helplessly as her girlfriend slips into attack mode. Ava, god love her, was still not so great at tolerating people who flustered her in any capacity whatsoever.

(And the fact that Sara had been in her arms was most definitely not helping Diana's case).

"The same as you Director Sharpe — protect humanity." Diana answers easily.

"Well, that's definitely the outfit for it." Ava murmurs, definitely not getting any of Sara's telepathic messages to _be nice_.

"I wouldn't be so quick to make jokes, _Pantsuit_." Mick sneers.

"Oh shut up, Mick." Ava snaps.

"Yeah, Mick." Nate echoes, surprisingly coming to Ava's defense before Sara can. "You're just jealous cause she's so tall and handsome as hell."

At the resulting silence that earns him, Nate pauses and turns back around to the group, "What? A guy can't quote his favorite Taylor Swift song when talking about his boss?"

"I should hope not." Gary utters quietly, affronted by the very idea.

"See?" Nate comes around and clasps Gary on the shoulder, to his utter delight. "Gary gets it."

Ava's head drops in exasperation as the two high five each other. Her fingers come up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Your lunch break was over an hour ago, by the way, Nate."

Nate winces at that reminder and awkwardly turns on his heel. He makes no move to return to the Bureau though, just kind of shuffles himself inconspicuously behind Ray.

"Your friends are very entertaining." Diana comments, smiling and glancing back at Sara.

"That's a nice way of saying we're all over the place." 

"It's not a bad thing." Diana assures her.

Ava's face scrunches a little in disagreement. "Isn't it, though?"

Sara lightly shakes her head at her. Ava just couldn't help herself. Lucky for her, Sara's long past taking those comments about her team personally.

As a result, Sara merely turns back to Diana and explains, "She's just upset she doesn't get to hang around the cool kids all day."

Sara's smile only broadens when she catches Ava's eye roll.

"If anything they should be the ones upset that they don't get to spend all day with you, Director Sharpe." Diana smoothly responds, and it takes a second before both Ava and Sara register the compliment.

"I do get to spend all day with her, and I can confirm, _it's the best_." Gary enthuses, popping up when neither one of them respond right away.

Ava slides a quick confused glance at Sara, as if to say, _I was mean to her and she's complimenting me? Why?_

Sara just smiles calmly back at her, hoping it reads as, _Relax and just go with it, babe._

But Ava's eyebrows just tick up in response like, _You do realize who you're talking to, right?_

Sara shifts her attention back to Diana, only to find Diana's head turned, as if distracted by something they couldn't hear.

"I'm afraid it is time to take my leave." Diana announces suddenly, with urgency. "The fighting has intensified out on the battlefield and I am needed."

Goodbyes are quickly said, despite the group's mutual disappointment, and somehow Sara and Ava end up the ones to see Diana off.

( _Somehow_ , as if the two of them hadn't immediately and simultaneously volunteered to do so).

"So why exactly do you want to show her out?" Ava quietly asks, as usual failing at a casual tone, as they walk a few paces behind Diana toward the cargo bay. Apparently she'd been paying enough attention earlier to remember the exact route off the ship.

"She not only helped us out with the mission but made sure I got back to the ship alright. I just wanted to thank her for that." Sara responds honestly before playfully narrowing her eyes at Ava, "Why do _you_ want to show her out?" 

Ava raises her shoulders innocently. "To apologize for being not so nice to her, obviously."

"Obviously." Sara echoes with a knowing smirk.

"An apology is unnecessary but accepted nonetheless, Director Sharpe." Diana suddenly turns around, leaving Sara and Ava to both come to a screeching halt to avoid a collision with her.

" _Holy sh_ —"

Diana's hands find both their waists, steadying them with ease.

Diana is probably too polite to ever point it out but Sara can tell by that smug lilt to the corner of her smile. She's thoroughly enjoying her effect on them.

But Diana is nothing if not a respectful Amazon, removing her hands and taking a step backward to give them some breathing space.

It's moments like these where Diana's old world manners remind Sara uncomfortably of Nyssa.

"Like I was saying," Ava smooths down her blazer, attempting to compose herself, "Sorry, Diana, if I seemed a little tense with you earlier, I'm not that great with people and even worse at first impressions."

"Hey at least you didn't pull a gun on her like you did the first time we met." Sara points out, smiling at the memory.

"I was just doing my job." Ava scoffs at the reminder, before hastily explaining to Diana, "It's not like a _thing_ I do, I swear."

"That is good to know, for both our sakes," Diana smiles, and then leans in to conspiratorially whisper, "You see I am much more difficult to hit than you might expect."

Both Sara and Ava go a little slack-jawed when Diana gets close and crosses her arms over her chest, showing off those shining silver arm guards.

And those biceps, _lord_.

Surprisingly, Ava's the one to recover first. She raises her gaze back to Diana's face and unaffectedly tells her, "I'll have you know that what I lack in people skills I more than make up for in marksmanship. But cute bracelets."

Sara steals an appreciative glance at Ava, impressed.

God, Sara loves when she gets that confident little smirk. Before they were dating it used to annoy the hell out of her, but now Sara totally lives for it.

And by the looks of it, Diana was thoroughly enjoying it too.

"Your so-called lack of people skills is nonexistent to my eyes, Director Sharpe. In fact I find you most charming."

Ava's moment of bravado completely dissolves as her face adorably flushes under the weight of Diana's affectionate smile and Sara's attraction to them _both_ doubles unexpectedly in that moment, effectively confusing the crap out of her.

Because sure Sara's glad to know this effect Diana seems to have isn't just on her, and yes Ava deserves all the praise and compliments in the world as far as Sara's concerned, but also shouldn't Sara feel just a _little_ bothered when it's coming from another woman?

And not, like, really into it?

Sara can feel her heart rate start to pick up as her mind runs through the implications. But she doesn't know why she's getting so freaked out.

So what if she has a teeny, tiny, little crush on Diana?

Judging by how smiley Ava is right now talking to Diana, she probably has a crush on her too.

It doesn't mean they love each other any less, right?

Of course not.

And besides, after today, they're never going to see Diana again, so it's not a big deal.

It's fine, Sara _should_ be fine.

But she's not.

Diana's telling them she has to leave, and the very thought of Diana walking out of their lives for good brings a tightness to Sara's chest, a longing that has definitely never showed itself while Sara was already committed to someone.

A quiet voice in the back of her head warns her that that's a sign this is something more than some meaningless crush.

But Sara isn't about to entertain any thoughts that these feelings are anything but fleeting.

"Captain Lance?"

Sara snaps back to attention to find Diana smiling at her patiently, her hand outstretched. Sara promptly takes it, ignoring its warmth and probably shaking her hand a little too firmly as a result.

"It was lovely meeting you both. I only wish we had more time to know each other."

Sara wished she didn't sound so regretful. It was making this goodbye way more unbearable than it had any right to be.

"You two truly are a delight."

" _You're_ the delight." Ava returns with a light scoff, followed by a fierce blush as she belatedly realizes that remark was not just a thought inside her head.

Diana gets that happy crinkly-eyed smile again and how the hell Sara's heart doesn't just burst from all the cuteness is beyond her.

Sara reluctantly opens the door hatch and lowers the boarding ramp for her.

It would take several more instances of well wishes and goodbyes before Diana finally walks backward down the ramp, sending them the sweetest smile and wave before turning around and disappearing back into the gunsmoke haze of a world at war.

For a long while Sara and Ava just stand there, fixated on the spot where Diana was last visible.

"What are you thinking?" Sara finally asks. She knows why _she's_ lingering but not so much why Ava was.

Ava hesitates. 

"I'm thinking about how weird it feels to miss someone I just met."

Sara looks back at her in surprise.

Ava tracks the way Sara's eyebrow ticks up and immediately panics, "I meant that in a completely platonic way of course. I'm not, you don't have to worry—"

"Take it easy, babe. I know what you meant." Sara smiles gently, interrupting her rambling. _Even if you weren't talking platonically, I'd know what you meant._ "I can't imagine anyone not automatically missing Diana the second she says goodbye."

Ava nods, made significantly more at ease. 

"Do you think we'll ever see her again?" Ava asks quietly.

Sara exhales deeply, feeling the answer in her heart but not quite ready to admit it aloud.

_God, I really hope so._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the Sara chapter, the next one will be the Ava chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is nearly double the size of the last one. Whoops?

_Santa Monica, 1959_

Ava has never been a fan of the beach.

The sand alone was enough of a turn off, but to factor in the crowds, the pollution, and the ridiculous number of ill fitting bathing suits? Forget it. Ava would rather stay home.

It's partly why she declined Sara's offer to join the legends in Aruba after defeating Mallus. In her opinion, the beach was one of the worst places for rest and relaxation.

And right now, the universe was kind of proving her point.

Ava shakes her head at the sight of fleeing beach goers running and screaming for their lives.

The scene was something right out of _Jaws_. Except instead of a killer shark roaming the waters, it was their newest fugitive.

Nate must be thinking something along the same lines because next to her he suddenly starts humming the movie's iconic tune.

"Hey, anyone spy a young Steven Spielberg?" Ray asks suddenly, scanning the crowd through his binoculars. "Maybe this event is what inspires him to make _Jaws_."

"I hate Spielberg." Mick grunts beside him. "He's a talentless hack."

"Anyone else getting Tagumo flashbacks?" Charlie inquires.

"What's worse: a giant octopus with eight tentacles or a giant lizard with nine heads?" Zari wonders aloud.

"Guys, focus." orders Sara, cutting off Nate and Ray's enthusiastic replies. "We need to take care of that hydra before anyone else gets hurt."

"We'll have to work quick." Constantine says, subtly tugging at his already loosened necktie. As usual he was the only one not dressed for the occasion and this California heat wasn't exactly agreeing with him. "As soon as we get close enough it'll be spewing its venom at us left and right."

"It's a good thing I brought this then." Ava smiles proudly, cocking her borrowed sniper rifle.

Constantine barely casts her a sideways glance. "Hate to break it to you, love, but the beast's hide is impenetrable, your ruddy bullets won't do anything more than piss it off."

Ava resists the urge to roll her eyes back at him. "Everyone has a weak spot, Constantine, even monsters. Which is why I plan to go for the eyes and blind it as best I can. It might still attack but at least then it won't be able to see us."

"Let's hope we can trap it before it comes to that." Mona pipes up, sounding concerned, "Because the hydra's only real crime is existing out of place and it really doesn't deserve to be mutilated for that."

"Tell that to all the surfers who'd gotten their faces melted off." Nate mutters, making everyone else grimace in sympathy.

"Mona's right, we should at least first try to do this peacefully." Sara says, before turning to Ray, "Ray, suit up and let's see if we can shrink this thing down and call it a day." Ray nods and promptly pulls his A.T.O.M suit out of his pocket. "Ava will watch our six here from the pier and everyone else will head down to the water to help distract the hydra."

"And while you lot do that, I'll be doing something that will actually help us be rid of the creature." Constantine says, pushing away from the railing and turning to leave.

"So in other words you're gonna draw symbols in the sand, ingest some kind of bodily fluid, and chant some Latin." Zari surmises.

"More or less." Constantine nods over his shoulder, already walking away.

"Come on guys," Sara beckons to the rest of the group.

Ava crosses her arms, shaking her head to herself as they pass her.

"Don't think I don't see those, Charlie." she says loudly, stopping Charlie from walking away with Zari.

Charlie innocently turns around and Ava's gaze pointedly drops to the Time Bureau sanctioned grenades bulging her beach shorts pockets.

"Don't know what you're on about, mum." Charlie shrugs, her chin raised defiantly.

Ava continues to shakes her head, before sighing heavily, caving to defeat, "Next time at least _ask_ first - or better yet, just don't steal from my work, please?"

After all it's not like the Waverider was ever in short supply of weapons. Gideon can literally make whatever they need.

"Sure, will do."

Ava rolls her eyes as Charlie's casual attitude. She doesn't even bother to try to sound convincing.

Sighing, Ava grabs her gun and makes her way further down to the pier. While the others head closer to the water, she goes over the railing to set up her sight.

Overhead she can hear seagulls squawking away but she thinks nothing of their presence. Not until she feels something drop onto her shoulder.

For a moment Ava can't bring herself to turn her head. She knows _it's_ there but she really doesn't want to see the proof of it.

Ugh.

As her face contorts in disgust, the seagull departs with a mocking caw, as if to say, _Welcome to Santa Monica!_

Ava shakes her head.

Just another reason to hate the beach. The stupid birds will shit on you.

Huffing in annoyance, Ava snatches her beach bag off the ground and roots around the extra ammunition and sunscreen until she finds something to clean herself off with.

She's just glad the others weren't around to see this. They tease her enough as is.

Just when Ava begins wiping the bird dropping off her shoulder, she senses movement behind her. Ava pauses. The pier had cleared out so she should be the only one out here.

Taking a breath, Ava mentally prepares herself for action while stealing a glance out of the corner of her eye. The new shadow on the boardwalk catches her attention instantly.

_Go time_.

Ava grabs her gun, unlocks the safety, and whips around in one fluid movement. She directs her aim to the roof of the food stand behind her but comes up empty-handed.

Her shoulders drop in confusion.

She does another scan of her surroundings, but all it seems to confirm was that she was in fact alone here.

Though Ava's instincts say otherwise.

She looks down at the floorboards again, just to be sure, and the silhouette that was there only a second ago was now gone.

_Ok. I know I'm not crazy. I know what I saw. There had definitely been something—_

Ava stops suddenly.

Or _someone_.

_"She'd just dropped down from the sky."_ That's what Sara told her happened the first time she saw Diana back in 1944.

Ava lifts her head to the sky and uses her hand to block the sun, hoping to see better.

But it doesn't help. She still finds nothing.

Ava's hand drops back to her side. She doesn't know what she feels more stupid for doing - thinking it could be Diana or actually trying to look for her.

It's been weeks since they last saw Diana but clearly her infatuation has not let up.

Her heart was _still_ pounding for God's sake. At the mere possibility of seeing Diana again.

Ava couldn't understand it. She had a wonderful girlfriend who adored her and who she adored in return. She should not be having any kind of lingering thoughts about anyone other than Sara.

And yet, here she was.

Ava half wished the others were still enthralled by Diana, just so she didn't feel quite so alone, but everyone's pretty much gotten over it. Diana was several missions ago - or, in other words, old news. Now just another name on a long list of cool people the legends have met throughout history.

If only she could move on so easily.

_"Ava, do you copy?"_ comes Sara's ragged breath through the comms. _"We kinda need you, babe. Plan A is sunk. Ray, you really need to make that suit waterproof!"_

_"And ease up on the firepower next time, big guy."_ Nate's voice comes next.

_"s-accident-"_

Ava effectively snaps out of her daze thanks to the amount of static that comes from Ray's end. "Copy that," she responds quickly, "I'm on it."

She lifts her gun back up and looks through her sight to see what the hell she'd just missed.

_Damnit, Ray._

That hydra was definitely down a head and judging by the flailing neck stump, it already looked to be in the process of regrowing new heads.

Ava curses herself under her breath for allowing herself to get so distracted.

Now was so not the time to be thinking about Diana.

Refocusing her attention, Ava waits for the right moment, then takes her shot. And then a second.

She winces at the resulting shriek. Even from this distance it was enough to rattle her ears.

_"Nice shots, babe."_ Sara compliments.

_"Yeah, one pair of eyes down, only...ten more to go."_ Zari adds unhelpfully.

Ava was just glad the bullets actually did some damage and didn't just bounce off the creature. She hadn't been a hundred percent certain about her theory.

Ava moves her position and lines up her shot. She manages to blind one more head before another unhinges its jaw to attack, forcing her to duck out of the way. The spray of acid strikes a hot dog cart, causing it to disintegrate before her very eyes.

Ava turns away with a cough, wrinkling her nose at the sulfuric odor. It's as good a reminder as any to keep moving.

She runs to take shelter behind another structure, firing shots when she can.

Now that she's made herself known, the hydra has diverted its attention from the others to focus on her. Which, while good for the legends, was not so great for her.

The hydra strikes again, this time taking out one of the carnival booths.

_"Nice damage control, pantsuit."_ Mick sneers at her through the comms.

"Shut up, Mick."

Though as much as Ava hates to admit it, he brings up a valid concern. This was a very old, very famous pier. If it gets completely destroyed, it might result in unforeseen consequences for the future.

She needs to get away from it.

_"It's okay, Ava. We've all wrecked public property before, it's no biggie."_

Nate's reassurances hardly make her feel any better.

In fact, they just make her feel like a legend. Which isn't necessarily a good thing.

As Ava makes her way back up the pier, she takes two more shots, effectively blinding one more head. The hydra screeches again in agony, this time prompting the other heads to retaliate in unison.

Several quick, consecutive strikes hit the pier.

Ava comes away from them all unscathed but it's the attack she doesn't see that ultimately does her in.

Her gaze drops to her feet, hearing the hissing sound of dissolving wood below.

_Shit._

One of the hydra heads had taken out one of the beams holding up the pier.

Ava scrambles to get away but she just isn't fast enough.

The floor under her feet collapses completely, dropping her straight into the freezing cold Pacific.

She hits the water hard, but stays conscious. The water isn't deep enough to worry her. She propels her body upward until her head breaks the surface. She emerges with a gasp, coughing up the water she inadvertently swallowed.

Her head thrashes back and forth as her eyes burn from the salt water.

Why is it whenever she tags along on missions she somehow always ends up in water?

Seriously, first that stupid summer camp, now this?

That's it. _This is the last time I join a legends mission that doesn't have a serial killer involved!_

Ava's hands slap the surface of the water, as if to emphasize her seriousness, but in reality it's her just trying to stay afloat against the onslaught of waves.

Lucky for her, her struggle is short lived.

The ease at which she's plucked out of the water leads Ava to expect a steeled up Nate or Mona, -er, Wolfie - but when she looks up, it's not a legend who is holding her.

It's Diana.

Ava startles at the realization.

_Holy shit._

"I did not realize little mermaids liked to swim so close to shore." Diana muses aloud, and Ava's water clogged brain jump-starts at the mention of a second fugitive.

_Wait, what? Mermaid? Where?_

Her head swivels around in confusion. She doesn't see anyone.

Then it hits her.

Diana was referring to _her_.

_Oh_.

"Are you alright, Director Sharpe?"

Ava stares at her in a daze for a long moment before snapping out of it. "Diana, hi." she finally says back, her head shaking quickly with embarrassment. "You can call me Ava, you know. No need to be so formal."

"Very well then." Diana nods, and her smile brightens. "Long time no see, Ava."

"Seems like just yesterday." Ava agrees, surprisingly managing a casual tone.

"Do not tell me it just was yesterday for you." Diana laughs.

Ava finds herself helplessly smiling along. "No, it's been a few weeks."

_The longest few weeks of my life_ , but that she'll keep to herself.

"Must be nice." Diana murmurs, effectively reminding Ava that, for her, it's been fifteen years since they last met.

"Can I ask you something?" Ava says suddenly, to Diana's amusement as she carries her to shallower water. "This might sound weird but you were you watching me earlier? While I was on the pier?"

Diana gives her nothing but an ambiguous smile.

"It's considered good luck, you know."

Ava's brow knits together in confusion. "What is?"

"Ava!"

Her head whips around at the sound to find a drenched Sara hurrying over to them.

Ava freezes.

She looks Sara, then at Diana, then back at Sara, before reacting as any reasonable person about to be caught in a compromising situation would — by fleeing.

In this case, that means panicking, throwing herself out of Diana's arms, and flopping back into the surf.

(It's not her finest moment, okay?)

Diana fishes her out of the water as effortlessly as she had the first time and pats her back, helping her to cough out the seawater.

"Sara, hey." Ava greets breathlessly. She moves to rise to her full height, but wobbles as one leg sinks lower in the sand than the other.

Sara and Diana immediately reach out to steady her. "You good?" Sara chuckles, her gaze a mixture of concern and amusement.

"Good. I'm good." Ava nods quickly, still catching her breath. "You good?"

"You sure?" Sara smirks, and of course she's enjoying this.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just really wet."

Ava registers her own remark a second too late. Her eyes widens in horror. Her head swivels between Sara and Diana as she stammers, "I didn't mean- _I meant because of the ocean_." She gestures to it needlessly, earning herself stifled laughter.

"Yeah, I think we all kinda are, babe." Sara nods, her smile wider than before.

Ava hangs her head, mortified.

Why does she always stick her foot in her mouth? Why?

"Sara, I'm so happy to see you."

Ava looks up and exhales quietly in relief, more than happy to have Sara and Diana take up each other's attention. Any longer and Ava's certain she would've only embarrassed herself further.

"Likewise, Diana." Sara nods, flashing her a warm grin, before wondering, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to investigate the commotion," Diana explains, and then looks past Sara, "but it seems you and your team already have it handled."

Ava squints back at the ongoing monster mayhem. "I don't know if handled is quite the word."

"Yeah, all we've really succeeded in doing is pissing it off." Sara reluctantly admits.

_And drawing a crowd_ , Ava realizes with dismay, looking over and seeing the flashing lights of police cars and people watching them from the street. There was definitely gonna be some memory wiping needed afterward.

As Diana's gaze drops back to Sara and Ava, her head tilts in question, "Would your team like some help with your ah," Her smile brightens as she remembers their term for displaced monsters, " _Fugitive_?"

Sara and Ava exchange unsure glances. "Well, uh, you don't have to." Sara says first, shifting her attention back to Diana.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to bother you." adds Ava, following Sara's gaze. "You probably have way more important things to do with your time."

_"Are you two bozos seriously trying to talk the Amazon out of us helping us right now?"_ Zari demands through the comms.

Sara and Ava both wince at her near deafening tone. "No," they innocently reply.

"We just don't want her feeling obligated to help us when we are perfectly capable of handling this fugitive ourselves," Sara calmly explains, "Right, team?"

Ava glances over her shoulder and can't help but pull another face. The scene behind them wasn't exactly helping Sara's point.

"Uh, maybe we could use a little help." Ava concedes, flashing Diana a nervous, hopeful smile. "If you're not too busy, that is."

Diana smiles brilliantly and wordlessly begins removing her shield from her back.

"Here."

When Ava realizes Diana intends on handing her shield over to _her_ , the smile completely drops off her face, "Woah, wait a second—"

Ava leans away in a panic but Diana gently takes her wrist and guides her back to her. Ava swallows thickly as Diana attaches the shield to her arm, adjusting the straps for her as she sees fit.

"You two will need these far more than I do." Diana explains, once done. She turns and inadvertently startles a bewildered Sara with her sword.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Charlie materializes from out of nowhere and smoothly intercepts Diana and Sara's trade, taking Diana's sword for herself.

"Charlie, give that back." Ava hisses through her teeth.

Charlie ignores her and pushes her sunglasses up instead. "Huh." Ava narrows her eyes as Charlie begins appraising the sword from hilt to blade. "Sword of Athena, is it?" She nods to herself and begins balancing it across two fingers. "Nice balance."

"Charlie," Sara warns this time, her hand outstretched.

Charlie ignores her too. She flicks her wrist back and forth, slicing the blade through the air. Her head nods in approval.

She offers the sword back to Sara, hilt first.

Sara reaches out but Charlie pulls it back at the last second, her brow quirking in question, "You sure you can handle it, Cap?"

Charlie's smirk grows wider when Sara just rolls her eyes and snatches the sword away from her.

"Charlie, was it?" Diana inquires, drawing Charlie's attention away. Ava crosses her arms, not liking the lecherous way Charlie looks Diana up and down.

"Hello again, gorgeous." Charlie winks at her.

"Knock it off, Charlie." Ava and Sara both snap, to the surprise of each other.

"Alright, mums," Charlie's hands go up in false surrender, "No need to get your knickers in a twist." She backs away with a knowing smirk, then turns around to rejoin the fight.

Ava watches Charlie go with a shake her head, then returns her attention to Diana, intent on picking their conversation up where they left off. "Not that I'm questioning your motives, Diana," _Even though I totally am._ "but uh, isn't it a little unwise to go into a fight unarmed?"

Diana smiles sweetly at her.

"Oh, but I am not unarmed."

_Definitely not_ , Ava agrees, once again finding herself drawn toward Diana's biceps, _those guns are fully loaded._

Her gaze travels lower, watching as Diana detaches a coil of golden rope from her waist. A weapon that honestly paled in comparison to Diana's beautifully detailed sword and shield, but, Ava would admit, watching it glide through Diana's very capable hands was strangely titillating.

"Wait for it." Sara advises with a knowing glance.

Ava blinks at her, a skeptical frown overtaking her face, unsure of what more she could expect.

Then it happens.

The rope begins to glow with some kind of blinding solar energy that is unlike anything Ava's ever seen before.

"What the hell is that?" Ava utters quietly, entranced.

"The Lasso of Hestia." Diana explains. "It compels whomever it touches to speak their absolute truth."

Any inclinations Ava had to touch the bright n' shiny rope quickly goes away with that revelation.

No way does she need anyone hearing her unfiltered thoughts. As it is, even Ava doesn't want to hear her unfiltered thoughts.

As Diana gathers her lasso in her hands, Ava bites her lower lip, trying valiantly to school her expression while her brain - the dirty little traitor - imagines better, more enjoyable uses for a rope like that to be put to.

Ugh.

_You need to knock it off, Sharpe. Sara is literally standing right next to you._

Ava shuts her eyes and gives her head a reproachful shake, quickly ridding her mind of those fantasies.

"Any chance you've dealt with a hydra before?" Sara asks of Diana as the three of them join the others.

"No, but to defeat the Lernean Hydra one must remove each head and burn the wound before new heads can grow in its place."

Mick's head snaps to attention. "Did someone say burn?" He stops, registering Diana's presence, and frowns, "Hey, it's warrior princess."

"Diana, Mick." Ava corrects irritably. "Her name is _Diana_."

"Whatever." Mick mutters. "What's this about burning?"

"We cut off the heads and burn 'em before they have the chance to multiply." Sara explains it to him simply. "You wanna tag team? I slice, you fry?"

Mick just grunts his confirmation.

"I will assist the others in distracting the creature." Diana declares.

"And I will assist your assisting." Ava adds awkwardly, without thinking, earning herself several looks. Her head ducks briefly in embarrassment.

Sara just gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Diana does not waste anymore time. She takes off with a running start toward the creature and launches herself up into the air. Ava feels herself go bug-eyed as she effortlessly becomes airborne.

"What the—"

"Yeah, it only gets better from here." Sara chuckles, head tilted back too. "Just don't let her distract you too much. I'd like to bring you back home in one piece, okay?"

But Ava was only half-listening. It was one thing to hear about Diana in action, a whole other to witness it for herself.

Her mouth drops open when Diana suddenly delivers a devastating blow, knocking out a hydra head with a single punch. "Did she just...?"

"Damn." Sara utters breathlessly.

For a moment they just stand together and watch in awe.

_"Uh, guys, a little help here!"_

Sara and Ava snap out of their daze as the hydra shrieks in frustration, the noise rippling across the beach.

Many things were happening at once. It was almost dizzying trying to keep track of the ever moving hydra heads, snapping and spewing venom in every direction.

Sara and Ava share a glance, then a nod, before splitting up and going in opposite directions. Ava pulls up short halfway, suddenly realizing that while she carried Diana's shield, she no longer had an offensive weapon. She'd lost her gun when she'd fallen off the pier.

"Sharpe!"

Ava looks over in time to catch a hand gun being tossed to her by Charlie. Her shoulders slump in disbelief once her mind catches up. "Seriously, Charlie?"

Charlie scoffs at Ava's less than grateful tone. "You're welcome."

"Stop stealing Time Bureau property—"

"Later, Ava!" Zari huffs, diving into the sand to avoid an attack.

"Fine!" Ava clicks the safety off and starts shooting with her free hand. Zari quickly rolls onto her back and sends a powerful gust of sand into the hydra's eyes.

Another head swings around in annoyance at the same time Ava turns around, forcing her to drop to her knees behind her shield. She doesn't have time to do much else. Her eyes squeeze shut as she braces for impact, prepared for that tell-tale sound of acid eating away at the metal.

But it never comes.

Ava opens her eyes after a moment and peers over the side of the shield. Sure enough, it was still perfectly intact, the acid sliding off like water.

_Huh. Sturdy._

She's not sure why she's surprised. Diana was letting her borrow the shield for a reason. Of course it wouldn't be useless.

Ava gives the shield a quick dunk in the ocean to wash it clean. Her gaze shifts around, trying to assess who needed the most help.

Ray was wrapped around one of the hydra's necks and holding on for dear life as it tried to buck him off, then there was a steeled up Nate was wrestling with another hydra head, trying to keep its mouth shut. Mona - er, Wolfie - was dragging the creature backward by its tail. And Charlie was chucking grenades into the air like they were baseballs.

Meanwhile Sara was working fast, slicing off heads with ease thanks to Diana muzzling them with her lasso, with Mick right on her heels, cauterizing the stumps with his heat gun.

In all the chaos though, Sara doesn't catch the other hydra head that's laying low to the ground, readying for a sneak attack.

But Ava does.

"Sara!"

Ava moves as fast as she can and jumps up, using all her strength to strike down on the hydra's head.

To her dismay she doesn't quite knock it unconscious like Diana does. Its head just kind of bobs and sways in a dazed way.

Luckily Sara's able to take advantage of its disorientation and completely chop off its head.

"Thanks, babe." Sara says to her, afterward.

"Okay, Mick, do your thing." Ava takes a step back, not wanting to get her eyebrows singed off in the process, and lifts her head, only to find Mick suddenly MIA.

"Mick?" Sara questions, turning around in time to watch as he gets knocked sideways by one of the hydras into the surf, heat gun included.

Mick resurfaces with a enraged bellow and aims to retaliate but his gun doesn't cooperate. Fire and water, after all, don't exactly mix. "Damn snake broke my gun!"

"Well, crap."

Sara and Ava's gazes drop back to the now writhing, bubbling neck stump they had at their feet. If they didn't act in a couple seconds, there were gonna have two more heads to deal with.

Sara looks around quickly. "John!" she yells, spotting him and beckoning him over, "We could use a little help here!"

Constantine comes running, mud smeared across his face like warpaint - or what Ava _hoped_ was mud.

"I'm on it, I'm on it!"

Sara and Ava back away as Constantine mutters an incantation to summon and launch a handful of fire, preventing another regrowth just in time.

"I think we're all more than ready to send this thing to hell, so can you like, do it already?" Ava breathlessly says to him, afterward. But Constantine just shakes his head at her and takes the cigarette out from behind his ear.

"No can do, love. We need to finish off all the heads first. If we send it back to hell with even just one head remaining it'll still be a threat and could pop up in another time period for us deal with all bloody over again."

Shaking their heads in disbelief, Sara snatches Constantine's cigarette from his mouth while Ava grabs his lighter.

"Oi!" Constantine shouts in protest.

Sara and Ava take off without another word and call on Zari for back up along the way.

Diana has the remaining hydra heads tangled in her lasso. They're putting up one hell of a fight but even then it's clear they're no match against Diana's strength.

With the hydra focusing its fury on Diana, Sara and Ava are able to work together to finish what had been started. Sara decapitates the seething heads, while Zari uses her totem to fan the flame Ava produces with Constantine's lighter.

When the hydra is finally reduced to nothing but a mass of flailing headless stumps, Constantine comes up and grabs the sword out of Sara's suspecting hand.

"Careful!" Sara and Ava lurch forward with a horrified shout, "John that acid will melt your skin off." Sara warns at the same time that Ava shouts, "Don't you dare think about licking that blade!"

Constantine rolls his eyes at the pair of them and goes over to the sigil he made in the sand, giving Diana's sword a gentle shake so flicks of the hydra's spit lands in the center. He hands the sword back to Sara and then rolls his shoulder in preparation. Sara and Ava back away, just as everyone else clears.

Constantine mutters some Latin, summons a portal, and then the hydra is no more.

Why he only seemed able to conjure the right spell at the last minute and not anytime sooner, Ava will never understand, but she's grateful nonetheless.

Everyone regroups wet, tired, and sunburnt. All except Diana. If anything, the rigor of battle only seemed to enhance her radiance.

Ava wishes she could relate.

"Stupid beach with its stupid ocean and its stupidly high salt levels." Ava grumbles, admittedly a little worked up over the state of her hair. It was a knotted, brittle mess that was going to take a lot of maintenance to get back to normal. None of which she wanted to deal with when she got home.

"Careful, little mermaid, you've got seaweed in your hair."

Ava looks up from her one handed attempt at grooming and startles back, not expecting Diana to be in front of her so suddenly.

Her heart hammers wildly as Diana closes the distance between them.

Ava turns into a statue then, barely even breathing as Diana picks the seaweed out of her hair and tosses it aside with a smile. "Thanks," she blushes. Her gaze drops down, ready to return Diana's shield, but Diana isn't quite finished with her yet.

Diana draws her chin back up with a finger and gently smooths the hair out of Ava's face before finally tucking it behind her ear.

"There, much better."

"Thanks!" Ava's voice cracks that time. She moves back, hand fumbling with the arm grips of Diana's shield. "Here-here's your shield back," She ends up literally having to force her arm free - it's any wonder she doesn't completely dislocate her shoulder in the process. Ignoring the throbbing pain, she hands back Diana's shield with a quick nod, "It's, uh, round and very handy."

"Thank you, Ava." Diana chuckles.

Her hands close over Ava's while taking the shield, and Ava's heart practically jumps up into her throat.

"Man, this thing cuts like butter!"

Ava hops backward at the sound of Sara's voice. She looks over to find Sara happily waving Diana's sword around, flicking up water droplets every time the blade skims the water.

Ava smiles fondly at the sight. Sara just loved getting to play with pointy stabby toys.

"Thanks for letting me borrow it, Diana." Sara walks over to them and hands Diana's sword over before settling at Ava's side.

"I am glad I did." Diana sheathes her sword behind her back, along with her shield. "You two are quite the sight in the throes of battle." she compliments, her eyes shining with awe. "The way you two work in tandem...it is extraordinary. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were Amazons in another life."

Sara and Ava each dip their heads as embarrassed yet stupidly pleased smiles overtake their faces. "Oh, I don't know about that..."

"You weren't too bad out there yourself." Sara says, lifting her gaze.

"Monster slaying can be a welcome change of pace to the never ending plights of man." Diana replies. "It is far less complicated."

Ava knows the feeling. It's why she liked going on missions with the legends. As much as enjoyed her role as Director, it was nice to get away from the Time Bureau's politics every once and a while.

"Well, if you ever need another break—" Ava starts to offer, only to get interrupted.

"Hey! You guys coming?"

Her shoulders drop in exasperation. _Come on, Ray!_

Ray jogs over toward them, smiling away obliviously. It isn't until he gets closer and registers Sara and Ava's annoyance that his smile finally starts to fade.

Ava crosses her arms over her chest. "Did you guys finish memory wiping witnesses?" she asks, maybe a little harsher than intended.

"Almost, we just got one more go." Ray smiles and nods.

As if on cue, Charlie comes running past with a memory flasher in hand, trying to get a kid to stop running away from her, "Get back here, you little wanker!"

Sara sighs heavily and looks over at Zari who had just joined them. "Z, make sure Charlie doesn't get arrested."

Zari rolls her eyes but nods and follows after the chaotic shape-shifter, simultaneously dragging Ray away too. "C'mon, big guy."

And just like that, it's back to the three of them.

Ava doesn't know what to say to fill the silence. She keeps exchanging looks with Sara, trying to get her to take the lead, but Sara seems to be at as much of a loss for words as Ava is.

"Well, it seems my help is no longer required." Diana begins hesitantly, and that's all Ava needs, the start of a goodbye to jump into action.

Because she really doesn't want this ending like last time.

"Hey, are you, do you have a minute?" Ava cringes slightly when she fumbles her words. _Smooth as ever, Sharpe._ "I mean, do you need to go back to your heroing right away?"

Diana meets her question with a bemused smile and lightly shakes her head, "No, I do not."

_Oh, boy._ Ava's heart starts pounding harder inside her chest. She honestly didn't think she'd get this far.

"Cause, we were thinking about grabbing some lunch..." Ava trails off, glancing back at Sara for a little help.

But Sara is too caught off-guard to cooperate. "We were?" she questions slowly, until Ava's emphasized look registers. She then nods, smoothly clarifying to Diana, "I mean, we were. Right."

Before Ava can check to see if Diana appears even remotely convinced, Sara grabs Ava's arm, her eyes suddenly alight with an idea.

"And you know what? I know just the place."

—

After they all change into dry clothes, Sara pilots the jumpship down the coast to the aptly named Coast City.

Ava's not quite sure why Sara would take them from one beach town just to bring them to another, but she trusts that there's a good reason for it.

It had to be good, otherwise Sara would not be hustling them along the street like she was.

Still, Ava can't help wanting to know what exactly her girlfriend's plans are. She's far from a fan of surprises.

"Babe, where are you taking us?"

Sara doesn't answer her question. She doesn't need to because as soon as she leads them around the corner, the answer comes into view and speaks for itself.

_Big Belly Burger._

Ava should have known. If there ever was a food establishment close to Sara's heart, Big Belly Burger was it. According to Sara, when she and Laurel were kids, they would constantly beg their dad to stop for milkshakes after school. Eventually those trips became one of the many Lance family traditions.

Personally Ava had never been much of a fan of the fast food chain but then Sara introduced her to their milkshakes and well, Ava's never had a faster change of heart in her life.

"I present to you, the OG Big Belly Burger!" Sara announces, and Ava can't help but chuckle at her theatrics. Her girlfriend's pose, whether intentionally or not, perfectly mimics that of the diner's smiling, pompadour haired boy mascot behind her.

They were almost the same height too, not that Ava planned on mentioning it.

Diana tilts her head curiously toward her. "What does OG mean?"

"Original." Ava answers.

"Ah," Diana slowly nods, "So I take it this establishment survives well into yours and Sara's present time?"

"There's literally one on every street corner." Ava confirms. But unlike the Big Belly Burgers of the future, this one was still one of a kind. Just a humble little mom and pop diner, most likely famous only to its locals.

"The name paints quite the picture, does it not?"

Ava smiles and nods in agreement. If they'd had a more appealing name, she might've been more inclined to give it a chance sooner than she had. "In a couple decades the name will unfortunately reflect the body type of the average American."

Diana glances back at her, suddenly deeply concerned. Sara overhears this and rolls her eyes.

"Way to sell the place, babe." She walks back over to them, fondly shaking her head at Ava before turning to Diana. "The name can be off-putting but the food is _belly belly good_ , trust me."

"That's their slogan," Ava clarifies to Diana with a small smirk, "She's not just being weird, promise."

Sara playfully glares at her for that remark. "Come on."

Ava allows herself to be pulled along once more. But not before reaching over with her free hand and taking hold of Diana's hand too.

It's an innocent gesture, meant to keep Diana from feeling left out, but when their hands touch, Ava all but jumps out of her skin, realizing too late what it could get interpreted as by either Sara or Diana.

As a result Ava drops both their hands like they suddenly caught on fire.

_Taking the hand of another woman while your girlfriend's right there? What are you thinking, Sharpe?_

Sara frowns at Ava's sudden spastic behavior. "You good?"

Ava flashes her a tight smile, nodding silently. If Sara isn't convinced, Ava can just blame it on their surroundings. After all this isn't exactly the right era for girlfriends to be hand holding so freely out in public, right?

Right.

Ava breathes out and follows Sara inside toward a booth out of the way of the other patrons. She slides in next to Sara while Diana sits opposite them. A seating choice Ava quickly regrets. Not the being next to Sara part, of course. Having Sara at her side was comforting, grounding. Exactly what she needs.

But how in the hell was she supposed to engage in conversation, let alone _think_ , when a face like Diana's was smiling at her from across the table?

Ava feels her palms begin to sweat.

She hasn't felt this nervous since, well, her first date with Sara.

Ava grimaces and quickly shakes her head of the thought. That was not the right comparison to make. Cause this is not a date. This is three women grabbing lunch, hanging out platonically. The two situations couldn't have less in common.

Under the table, Ava rubs her hands against the tops of her thighs. She discretely turns her head, all the while wondering if it would be weird if she had lunch with them at her own table.

"So, Diana, how long have you been in California?"

As she speaks, Sara finds Ava's hand under the table and gives it a reassuring squeeze, as if sensing her distress. That alone helps Ava to get out of her own head and calm down a little.

"Not long. I just returned from London a few days ago actually." Diana's smile begins to taper off, but she forces its return in time for the arrival of their waitress.

Sara stops the young girl from passing out menus to them. "Actually, we know what we want." she explains, before stopping suddenly and glancing sheepishly between Ava and Diana, "Sorry, do you guys mind if I order for us?"

"By all means, Sara." Diana smiles, and Ava doubles the sentiment. Sara's dragged her on enough Big Belly Burger trips to know exactly what Sara plans on ordering them anyways.

"Cool." Sara relaxes and returns her attention to their waitress. "Three black and white milkshakes, three Belly burgers and all the french fries you can give us, please."

Their waitress nods and leaves to put in their order.

Afterward, Diana turns to them questioningly. "What are black and white milkshakes?"

"A fancy way of saying chocolate and vanilla swirled." Ava explains, sharing a smile with Sara. "They were her sister Laurel's favorite."

Diana smiles and rests her arms on the table, leaning forward with interest. "And what does your sister do? Is she a _traveler_ too?"

Sara shakes her head, her smile turning slightly rueful. "No, my sister had a district attorney by day, vigilante by night kind of thing going for her. She passed away a few years ago though."

"Why does it not surprise me that helping people runs in your family?" Diana questions softly before offering her condolences. "I take it you two were very close?"

"Yeah, though it wasn't always easy." Sara shifts her position and scoots back to lean against the wall so she can speak to them both more comfortably. "Growing up, I was always the black sheep to Laurel's golden child. Or at least that's how everyone in Star City put it. Rather than state the obvious: that I was a selfish little brat."

"You hardly seem selfish, Sara." admonishes Diana.

"Oh but I was." Sara nods with a slight laugh. "Not anymore, thank god. Dying will change you like that. And I've done it like, three times."

Ava scrunches her nose, her head tilting suddenly in thought. "Wait, aren't you at four now?"

"Maybe." Sara scratches her head, unsure. "Honestly, I don't know. Wait, are we counting erased timelines?"

"Surely you two are joking?" Sara and Ava glance back at Diana who looks quite alarmed by their casual talk of Sara's death.

Ava laughs a little in spite of herself. "I wish we were."

"It's a long story." Sara explains apologetically, "Several long stories, actually. None of which should be told without alcohol."

"Well, the day is still young." Diana smiles brilliantly, and _oof_ , Ava's heart skips a beat at the thought of them spending all day together.

Their waitress returns with their food. She sets down each milkshake one at a time, followed by their burgers and fries.

Ava watches with a smile as Diana takes a tentative sip of her milkshake. She anticipates a positive reaction from that first taste alone but somehow that still doesn't quite prepare her for the sheer delight that lights up Diana's entire face.

"It's ice cream!"

If Diana was surprised, Sara and Ava were even more so.

"Don't tell me you've been too busy being a badass to discover milkshakes!" Sara laughs.

"You've seriously never had one?" Ava questions, equally as amazed.

Diana merely shakes her head.

"Wait!" Sara exclaims, leaning across the table and preventing Diana from sucking her glass dry.

Diana looks so adorably chagrined, Ava almost tells Sara to just let her enjoy her milkshake in peace.

"You need to try it with the fries." Sara explains, smiling helplessly at Diana's continued bewilderment. "Dip it in the milkshake. It'll change your life."

Sara takes a fry and demonstrates, popping it into her mouth once it's sufficiently coated in milkshake. "Mmm," she closes her eyes and moans around the mouthful, "you can't beat a sweet and salty combo."

Diana mimics Sara exactly, then slams her hand down on the table in approval, startling everyone else in the diner.

"Delicious!"

_What an adorable goober_ , Ava grins.

It was hard to believe this was the same woman who a little over an hour ago was choking out a hydra with her bare thighs.

_Oh crap, why'd I think of that?_

Ava chokes on a fry at the mental image but easily disguises the sound as a cough.

"Yes! I've got another convert!" Sara cheers, proudly raising her glass in the air.

"Laurel would be proud." Ava agrees, voice strained from nearly choking to death, and clinks their glasses together.

"Do your other friends not like milkshakes?" Diana asks in between french fries, "is that why they did not want to come?"

Both Sara and Ava pause. They share a painfully obvious glance, knowing well that they gave the legends absolutely zero say in the matter when whisking Diana away on the jumpship.

And that was something Diana definitely didn't need to know.

"Uh, yeah," Ava eventually recovers, "You know, they're actually all lactose-intolerant."

"Very lactose-intolerant." Sara nods solemnly.

Diana shakes her head at them, her growing smile telling them that she absolutely does not believe a single word out of their mouths.

As a result the three of them burst out laughing.

When the moment passes, Diana leans back in her seat while she catches her breath. "You two are terrible liars."

"Hey, we might be liars but we're liars who provide milkshakes." Sara chuckles.

"And who can just as easily take them away." Ava playfully warns, reaching out and inching Diana's glass away from her.

Diana's hand shoots out to grab her wrist. "Tread carefully, Ava Sharpe."

Ava's brief moment of panic effectively dissolves into excited butterflies when Diana raises an perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her. "Otherwise the hydra will not be the only one I battle today."

_Ugh. How can she be so damn cute yet sexy and intimidating all at the same time?_

Ava's only consolation is that Sara looks just about as affected as she feels right now. Thank god it wasn't just her.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Ava replies to Diana, only half-joking.

Cause, hey, she'll happily let Diana do to her whatever she pleases if it meant spending more time together.

Diana's resolve breaks at that remark, a broad smile overtaking her features once more. Her head hangs briefly in defeat before her amused gaze returns to Ava.

Ava matches Diana's smile, unable to help feeling pleased with herself. So pleased in fact that she doesn't pay attention and accidentally grabs Diana's glass off the table instead of her own. She only realizes her mistake once she has Diana's straw in her mouth.

_Shit._

But Diana doesn't seem to mind. She just smiles and turns her attention to Sara, and before Sara knows it, her milkshake is being taken right out from under her.

"I guess we're all sharing, then?" Sara questions, her mouth pulling up in amusement as Diana happily starts sipping her shake. "Okay," she shrugs, not really expecting an answer anyways, "fine by me."

Sara leans over, claims Ava's original milkshake for herself, and settles back in her seat.

"So, Diana, what's Themyscira like?"

—

  
They don't stay at Big Belly Burger long.

They quickly come to realize that there's only so much an Amazon and two time travelers can talk about in a public place so, as soon as they finish their meals, they take their conversation back to the jumpship.

They settle themselves opposite each other on the floor, passing around a bottle of whiskey Sara had kept stashed aboard. (Now that Charlie was seemingly a permanent fixture, Sara has had to resort to hiding her booze in order to keep safe from the binge drinking shape-shifter).

Ava partakes but stays mindful of how much she drinks. Diana flusters her enough when she's sober, and she isn't about to find out what embarrassment she can cause without her inhibitions.

Thankfully Ava doesn't feel much of an urge to calm her nerves with a drink. There's a mutual interest regarding each other's lives and more than enough stories to share so the conversation between them flows easily.

Diana, in particular, is fascinated by their missions. She's only been apart of Man's World a little over forty years, so she was still trying to catch up to all the history that occurred before her arrival.

Which works for Sara and Ava because they had to be careful when talking about events that had yet to happen for Diana. The last thing they wanted was to screw up the timeline again.

In turn, Diana is an open book with her and Sara, answering their every question about the Amazons without reservation. Diana and Sara get sidetracked several times though, unable to help but compare the old-fashioned methodologies of the League of Assassins and the Amazons. Not that Ava minded at all. She was content enough to listen and watch them bond.

At times though Ava finds herself zoning out of the conversation, daydreaming what this dynamic would be on a day-to-day basis. She couldn't help but enjoy the sight of Sara and Diana together. Seeing them connect so well made her heart happy.

Like _really_ happy. Dare she say, excited even.

Though what she expected to come out of it, she had no idea.

"And you, Ava?"

Ava pulls away from her thoughts to find Diana now staring in her direction. "Sorry, what?"

"What is your story?" Diana prompts with a gentle smile.

Ava's whole body goes tense. It's such an innocent question, but oh, one that fills her with so much anxiety.

And one she is wildly unprepared to answer.

She'd been so wrapped up in learning about Diana, she hadn't even thought to stress over what she might say if the subject of _her_ past came up.

But now...

Where to even start?

The beginning, obviously, but which version? That of her implanted memories, of growing up in Fresno and working her way up the federal latter to getting recruited by Rip Hunter or the actual reality of it? Of being a clone and Rip plucking her out the future and programming her to be what he needed?

Ava fidgets with the bottle in her hands, resisting the urge take a drink for the sake of some liquid courage.

It's just now occurring to her that she's never had to do this before. Sara, Gary, the legends — they all found out about her past before she even did. She's never really gotten the chance to tell anyone herself before.

Well, there's a first time for everything.

_Just breathe and rip the band-aid_ _off_. Ava calmly tell herself. _You can do this.  
_

"Okay, so I'm not human." Ava eventually blurts out. "Well, I am. I mean," Ava shuts her eyes, blowing out a quick breath, "I'm a clone. From the future. And I know you already think of us as from the future but I'm from the _future_ future."

God, why does she always sound so stupid?

From there, Ava just turns into even more of a rambling mess. Or at least to her ears anyways. When she talks about 2213, she tries to keep her tone light and casual, like the visit was just another wacky legends adventure and not the life altering, frankly traumatizing event that it actually was. But she knows she's failing miserably at it.

God, she thought she was past all this.

Sara's hand finds her lower back and starts moving in reassuring strokes.

By the end of it, Ava isn't crying but she feels uncomfortably close to it and way too vulnerable for her liking. All she wants now is to crawl in a hole somewhere and stay there for awhile.

"Sorry for killing the mood." she says afterward, exhaling deeply.

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about." Sara softly reminds, dropping a kiss to Ava's shoulder.

"I know what it is like to think your existence is one thing only to find out its another." Diana offers quietly, drawing Ava's attention back to her. "When I was a child my mother told me I was sculpted from clay and given life by the Gods." 

Ava blinks in surprise, as does Sara.

Ava shifts a little, feeling herself perk up at the idea that Diana was like her - not born, but created.

"Were you?"

Diana expression falters apologetically. "As it turns out no." Ava deflates a little, but she's no less interested in what Diana has to say. "My mother only said that because she wanted to protect me from my brother Ares."

"Ares," Ava repeats, "as in _the God of War?_ "

Diana simply nods.

Ava's brow pinches together as she tries to recall the family tree of the Greek Gods.

_If Diana and Ares were siblings, then that meant..._

"So you're not just an Amazon, you're a demigod." Sara realizes, coming to the same conclusion Ava does.

"Born of Zeus." Diana confirms, though without much enthusiasm. "But please don't hold that against me."

Sara's head shakes in amazement. "Well that explains it." she mutters, leaning back and taking the whiskey bottle from Ava.

Diana smiles faintly at Sara before returning her attention to Ava. Her next question is brought up carefully, with the understanding of the sensitive nature of the subject, "You said you were not the first AVA this Rip Hunter recruited?"

Ava nods, wishing they could stay on Diana's origin story a little longer, but resigning herself to follow up questions. It was only fair. Earlier, she'd bombarded Diana with all kinds of questions about the Amazons.

"May I ask what number are you?"

Ava, to her credit, grimaces only slightly. "Twelve."

"You are the twelfth?" Diana clarifies, and Ava nods.

"Yeah?" she confirms with a slightly questioning tone. She doesn't understand Diana's interest. Or why her smile seems to grow at Ava's confirmation.

What was there to even smile about? Her being number twelve meant eleven other AVA clones had come before her and been discarded.

How long would it be until she was next? Until the Time Bureau decided it was time for lucky number thirteen?

"I just find it very fitting you are the twelfth." Diana answers easily, interrupting Ava's depressing train of thought. "For twelve is the number of perfection."

Ava blinks at her for a moment, certain she'd heard wrong.

Perfect? Did she say _perfect?_

Ava snorts at the very idea.

She's a walking pantsuit full of anxiety. One whose enjoyment of rules and structure isolates her from just about everyone she works with and which puts her at odds with Sara more often than she cared to admit. She was far from perfect.

"Okay, you're just saying that to make me feel better."

"I am not. Twelve _is_ a perfect number." If this were any other subject Ava would find it so damn cute how earnest Diana is. As it is, she only finds it a little cute. "It does not matter which subject you consult, math, science, religion, history— twelve is not just any ordinary number. It is a symbol of completeness and cosmic order. We Amazons have our twelve Olympians. The Christians have their twelve Apostles—"

"The twelve days of Christmas!" Sara throws in, bottle raised.

Ava shakes her head, rolling her eyes. "Okay, I get it," she's not saying she believes it, but she gets the picture, "it's a good number."

"The _best_ number." Sara corrects, nudging her affectionately.

"Your truth is something to be celebrated, Ava, not something to be ashamed of." Diana says to her adamantly. "Many may carry your beautiful face but your heart, your mind, your soul, that is all you. And that is not something that can be manufactured or replicated, no matter what this world's future technology may otherwise claim."

Well, when put like that, who is Ava to argue?

"Thank you," Ava bashfully replies, without anything better to say.

"Now tell me about you two," Diana implores, changing her sitting position, "How did you meet? Was it love at first sight?"

Sara and Ava glance at each other for a moment. "Not exactly," Sara chuckles.

"We kind of hated each other." explains Ava.

Diana nods, her eyes squinting in thought, "Ah yes, I am now remembering from last time that Sara said you pulled a gun on her the first time you met."

Ava huffs at the reminder. "Why does everyone seem to forget that she stole my gun right after that and pulled it back on me?"

"Because we want to spare you the embarrassment of bringing it up." Sara snickers, earning her a playful shove from Ava.

Talk of that first meeting quickly leads into more anecdotes about their relationship, Sara and Ava unable to help themselves. Diana even doesn't have to coax the stories out of them, they tumble freely, each of them spurred on by Diana's obvious enjoyment.

"What about you, Diana?" Sara asks, once they've finally calmed down from laughing over her and Ava's disastrous attempt at an escape room. "Do you have a special someone?"

Diana's smile drops slightly, her eyes no longer bright and happy. "I did," she nods, "Many years ago. I lost him in the Great War."

The thought of Diana romancing others brings a strange queasy feeling to her stomach, but Ava quickly shoves the feeling aside. "What was his name?" she asks instead, not wanting to appear rude.

"Steve Trevor."

"Sounds cute." Sara gently smiles. "Would you mind telling us about him?"

Diana doesn't hesitate. "Not at all."

Sara and Ava listen attentively as Diana tells them of how Steve had washed ashore on Themyscira and Diana had left with him to protect humanity against what she believed was Ares' influence.

Ava sits with her elbow propped up on her knee, chin in hand, silent and enthralled by Diana's story. She just hated the fact that though Diana's debut into Man's World had ended with her saving the world, it was hardly a happy ending for her.

"Wait," Sara pulls her head away from Ava's shoulder, straightening up in realization, "So you haven't been back home since then?"

Ava looks back at Diana and raises her brow. "Ever?"

Diana shakes her head, her smile rueful, "To live in paradise one must never leave it. To do otherwise means never returning."

Ava shakes her head in thought, brow furrowing, "That can't be true. Helen was able to return to Themyscira after helping us out with Mallus. Zari saw to it herself."

"Maybe because Helen wasn't born an Amazon, there was some kind of loophole?" Sara guesses, sharing a look with Ava, before turning back to Diana, "What I want to know is how you can't return to Themyscira but Zari can find it just like that?" She snaps her fingers to illustrate her point.

"It would not be the first time someone in need of help found Themyscira's waters." Diana explains after a moment of consideration. "The island above all else is a sanctuary. Themyscira allowed itself to be known because Zari's only intention was to find a place of safety for Helen. That is the only way I can rationalize it, anyways."

"I'm sure we can help you return Themyscira, Diana." Ava says, her certainty and sudden determination surprising herself a little. "If Zari did it once, she can do it again."

"I am touched by your concern but you need not worry yourselves about this." Diana says gently to them both, reaching out and clasping their hands. "I made a choice, I must live with the consequences. It's okay."

But it clearly wasn't.

Ava could clearly see the pain in her eyes, and if Ava could, then she knows Sara definitely could too.

Ava turns her head, and Sara meets her gaze, the two of them silently agreeing that, one way or another, they would figure out a way to get Diana home.

—

Ava had hoped this time spent with Diana would help her get rid of this crush, figuring the more she learns about Diana, the less she had to fantasize and idealize about, but if anything Ava feels worse off than she was before today.

Which leads her to the conclusion that a talk with Sara was definitely going to be needed when they got home. This was turning into something more than what she thought she could handle and Sara deserved to know the full extent of it.

"You two really didn't need to walk me back to my hotel." Diana says as they're walking along the quiet street, the three of them drawing nearer to their destination.

"We're not ones to leave a lady to walk home alone." Sara smoothly replies. "However capable she may be."

Ava can't help but smile to herself. Dashing Captain Lance strikes again.

But, truth be told, escorting Diana was hardly a selfless act. Ava had insisted on it, in a moment of blind panic, because she wasn't ready to say goodbye on the jumpship.

(All good things must come to an end, sure, but that doesn't mean she can't drag out the process for as long as she can).

"Thank you again," Diana turns and stops in front of her hotel, then gazes down at them with sincerity, "Today has been much needed."

Sara and Ava smile and nod along in response, both having resigned themselves by now to the inevitable goodbye, but still not quite able to say the necessary words.

A moment's hesitation follows suit.

Then, next thing Ava knows, they've all gravitated into each other's arms.

She's not sure who initiates it, at least one of them does, or they all do at once, but either way a group hug ensues.

It's a little awkward at first, the three of them being of varying heights, but somehow they make it work until they all mesh into each other in just the right way.

In the time that they're holding each other, it occurs to Ava that hugging Diana is like hugging Sara. She gets that same rush of oxytocin, feels that same amount of warmth and comfort and contentment.

If that should be a concern, Ava files it away for another time. Right now it felt like she couldn't stress even if she tried.

Diana pulls away first, slowly, and Ava reluctantly lets her go, as does Sara. "May we meet again. Hopefully before another fifteen years pass." Diana murmurs softly to them both, and her sad kind of smile breaks Ava's heart, effectively ruining her post hug happy daze.

A strong need to reassure that they won't leave her hanging for another decade rises up in Ava's chest, but then she remembers she's in no position to be making those kinds of promises, and the urge deflates.

All too fast Ava finds herself watching Diana walk out of their lives for a second time.

Her heart thuds painfully inside her chest as her gaze turns to Sara.

Now maybe she's just projecting but Sara looks exactly how Ava feels inside, conflicted and upset and just as reluctant to leave things up to fate. Because really, what were the chances that yet _another_ fugitive would bring them back together?

The odds of that happening seemed highly unlikely, and the idea that this goodbye might actually be for good takes Ava's breath away in the most unpleasant way.

Ava shoves her hands in her coat pockets, feeling completely overwhelmed, and is immediately met with the weight of her time courier. She holds it for all but two seconds when it sparks an idea.

Before Ava knows what she's doing, she's pulling it out of her pocket, and Sara notices, and Ava looks up at Sara, and Sara looks at her, and they're both a little wide-eyed and unsure, but there's no time to talk this crazy idea through. Their window of opportunity is closing fast.

Ava and Sara nod at each other quickly, somehow on the same page in spite of everything, and then thank god, Sara's taking the time courier out of her hand—

"Hey, Diana, wait up!"

Ava exhales in relief, glad Sara was taking the lead. Her heart's hammering so hard inside her chest, she wasn't sure she'd be able to get the words out.

Diana stops halfway the stairs, her head turned.

"We, uh, have something for you." Sara walks over nervously as Diana descends to meet them again.

Ava trails behind Sara, her state alternating between fear and excitement.

Diana looks down at them with a curious smile as Sara presents her with the time courier.

It's then that the smile completely falls from her face.

"A watch?" Diana whispers unevenly.

She doesn't just look confused, but shaken and distressed.

It's then that Ava realizes that this wasn't just a bad idea.

It was a _terrible_ idea.

_Abort, Sara. Abort!_

But Sara isn't paying attention to her silent pleas. "I know it kind of looks like one, but it's actually what we call a time courier. It's something you can use to get anywhere at any time period. We figured it could make it a little easier to keep in touch. We could visit each other even, if you wanted to." adds Sara shyly. "When you're not busy saving the world, that is."

Whatever memory they inadvertently dredged up for Diana seemed to have Sara's words falling on deaf ears.

"Diana?" Ava timidly prompts, finding the silence unbearable.

Finally after what feels like a lifetime, Diana returns to herself. Her head begins shaking regretfully, "I am afraid I cannot accept your gift."

"Okay," Sara blinks, then nods, easily pocketing the time courier, "That's fine."

Ava nods her support. Even though she doesn't exactly understand what their mistake was, she feels an apology ready on her tongue, but fear of making the situation worse keeps her silent.

Diana appears to want to say something more but hesitates. An odd sight coming from someone so usually sure of herself. She looks between them for a moment, deliberating, before finally stepping forward.

"You take two care of each other, alright?"

Ava feels her mouth drop open slightly when Diana leans down and presses a kiss to Sara's forehead.

Whatever she'd expected Diana to do, _that_ definitely wasn't it.

Ava watches in a daze as Diana moves onto her. Her eyes fall shut at the tender feeling of Diana's lips against her skin.

Then, as quickly as it'd come, the warmth of Diana's breath was gone.

When Ava opens her eyes, her and Sara are left standing alone on the sidewalk.

—

  
Sara and Ava plop themselves down in their respective seats as soon as they're aboard the jumpship.

The walk over had been quiet one as they each took the time to process what had happened and what it now meant. Not that it had done much good for Ava, she still feels hopelessly at a loss.

"I am really sorry, Sara," Ava says first, practically bursting out the apology. Honestly she's kind of surprised she doesn't just burst out crying too. "I completely ruined everything."

Sara looks over at her, sighing, and shakes her head, assuring her, "There's no need to apologize, babe."

Ava shakes her head quickly, adamantly. "Things were going so well before I decided—"

"Before _we_ decided," Sara gently corrects, "and it seemed like a good idea at the time. But we misread the situation, it happens." Sara turns her chair forward and starts up the jumpship. "It's her loss if she doesn't want to be our...friend."

The way Sara hesitates on the word gives Ava pause, but she knows better than to make assumptions and to get her hopes up, especially after today. "Friend, right." she agrees, even though the word doesn't feel quite right.

Ava glances over at Sara, silently deliberating. Does she really want to do this now? Here?

She doesn't, not really, but she can't save this talk for later. She doesn't quite trust herself not to chicken out. She needs to get this out now.

Ava reaches out, her hand sliding over Sara's, preventing her from making the jump back home. "Sara, hold on a second."

Ava breathes out, nervously, as Sara swivels her chair around to give Ava her full attention. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just have to tell you something."

Sara nods slowly, understanding, and waits patiently.

Ava takes another deep breath.

"I like Diana."

Ava looks up at Sara's resulting silence to find her eyes narrowed in confusion. "Yeah, babe." Sara nods, smirking a little. "Obviously."

"No, Sara," Ava groans, her head dropping briefly in embarrassment, "This isn't, I mean _like her_ like her. As in, I have a crush on her."

Sara's smile grows wider. "Again, _yeah, I know_."

Ava blinks, then frowns. "You do?"

Sara slowly nods. "What? Did you honestly think you were being subtle about it?" Ava pouts when Sara gently laughs at her, "Oh, babe, you're adorable. You pretty much melted into a puddle of mush every time Diana so much as smiled at you. You know, I never knew it was possible for someone to blush and to stay blushing for extended periods of time."

Ava hunches forward in her seat, mortified that she was so transparent. "Sara, I am so sorry...wait a minute." Ava's spine straightens suddenly, realizing. "You're not mad at me."

Sara just smiles and shakes her head.

Ava stares back in complete bewilderment.

"So, what, you're _okay_ with it?"

"Well I'd be a total hypocrite if I wasn't," Sara chuckles, nodding, "considering I _like_ like Diana too."

"Really?"

Ava's not totally surprised — it was clear that Sara was attracted to Diana (Ava would have seriously questioned Sara's sanity if she wasn't), but attraction is one thing, _like_ liking someone, that's a whole other level...right?

Either way, Ava is relieved to know her and Sara are in this mess of feelings together. Though she would've appreciated knowing about it sooner...

"You goober!" Ava huffs, reaching over and lightly smacking her arm. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Hey, don't _goober_ me," Sara says with a slight laugh, "you could have said something too!"

Ava fumbles with a response. "Well, I—things have been really good between us and I didn't want to jeopardize that." she stammers. "I didn't want you hating me or feeling like I loved you less or that you weren't enough for me. Because Sara you are more than enough."

Sara's expression softens at her words. "So are you, you know." she smiles, reaching out and affectionately poking her.

Ava relaxes a little. She still didn't understand how she could feel so strongly about Sara and still develop feelings for Diana, but it was a comfort to have the truth completely out and Sara to be okay with it.

"So we both like Diana." Ava clarifies, just to make absolutely sure, to which Sara nods.

"We really, _really_ like her." Sara corrects.

Ava shakes her head to herself, feeling a little stupid for not realizing it sooner. For one, Sara doesn't just let anyone in on Lance family traditions.

Sara sighs heavily. "You know, this would all be a lot more enjoyable if we hadn't just completely scared Diana off."

"Oh, god." Ava gasps suddenly, loudly, startling Sara. Her head whips around. "Do you think Diana thought we were trying to U-haul her?"

"Probably not considering U-haul doesn't even exist yet." Sara says with a confused laugh, before furrowing her brow, "At least I don't think."

It would make sense, why else would Diana have gotten so weird on them?

"She thought the two of us were coming onto her and that's why she freaked." Ava decides, nodding to herself, before shifting her panicked gaze back onto Sara. "Were you trying to come onto her? Cause I sure wasn't! I just wanted us to continue being friendly with each other and since we can't very well exchange phone numbers like normal people..." Ava slumps forward and hides her face in her hands, groaning, "God, she probably thinks we're like swingers or something."

Sara laughs and her hand comes to rest over Ava's hunched over back. "Babe, you need to breathe and relax."

Ava inhales, then exhales deeply.

She supposes it was a good thing, Diana shutting them down now rather than later. Before things got complicated. But if she wasn't interested, why even bother with a goodbye kiss?

Ava still had so many questions.

Sighing, she lifts her head away from her lap. "Can I ask you something?" she asks Sara quietly.

Sara nods at her.

"What do you think would have happened if Diana had accepted the time courier?"

"I don't know."

Ava can't help but throw Sara a dissatisfied look. "Let me rephrase, what would you have wanted to happen?"

"I dunno, I haven't exactly thought that far ahead." Sara shrugs. "To keep seeing her, getting to know her, there's this ice cream shop in Star City that I know she would've flipped over for..."

"So this is more than just sexual attraction for you." Ava says, finding herself once again needing the clarification. Her neurotic brain just liked the reassurances.

"Well, yeah." Sara tilts her head, still smiling, but faltering a little with confusion, "What? When I said I liked her, you thought I meant I just wanted to have sex with her?"

"Well, I don't know, maybe." Ava shrugs, and slouches a little lower in her seat self-consciously. "Hooking up with women across the timeline did used to be your _thing_."

"I wouldn't say it was my _thing_. And anyways, this situation is completely different. I've never wanted to be with two people at the same time before. This is uncharted territory."

"Me either." Ava sighs, then grumbles, "I hate uncharted territory."

"It's so _uncharted_." Sara agrees, resulting in a small laugh from Ava.

Ava glances over at Sara curiously, trying not to appear too anxious. "So, what happens now?"

"Well Diana's out of the picture so what we both want is kind of off the table. All we can really do now is enjoy our time with her for what it was and move on." Sara says with a shrug.

"You make it sound easy."

If Ava's learned anything from these past weeks it's that getting Diana out of her head was anything but.

"It won't be. But that's what this is for." Sara reaches behind her seat and lifts up a brand new bottle of whiskey.

Ava does a double-take.

"Where in the hell-?" she wonders aloud. "Just how many of those do you have stashed in here?" Her brow furrows as she looks around, trying to see where on earth Sara could possibly keep others.

"Oh, you'd be surprised."

Sara kicks open a random compartment with her boot and Ava breathes out a small laugh when a wine bottle rolls out. Sara picks it up and presents it to Ava like a waiter would at a restaurant.

"For you, my love."

Ava takes the bottle, her head still shaking in disbelief.

It wasn't just any bottle of wine either, but Ava's favorite brand.

Sara pulls out her Swiss army knife from her pocket and hands it to Ava. Ava hesitates in taking it though.

"Let's wait until we're home before we open the bottle, huh?" she suggests, explaining, "If I'm gonna get drunk off my ass and wallow in rejection, I wanna be in my comfy clothes."

"Good idea." Sara pockets her knife and swivels forward.

Ava leans back in her seat, breathing deeply, as Sara plots a course back to 2019.

They make the jump, and just like that, leave Diana right where they found her, in the past.

Though only time would tell if it would stick.

Ava really hoped it didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!
> 
> Here's a monster of a chapter featuring Ava, Sara, and...Gary???

Whose bright idea was it to have book club on a weeknight?

Ava takes a painfully measured sip of rosé, scowling to herself. It sure as hell wasn't her, that much she knew.

Normally it’s no big deal because it’s not like anyone ever uses their get-together as a reason to get hammered, except that is exactly what Ava wants to do now and yet can’t because she has work in the morning.

Her gaze darts around the room restlessly. They've taken over the parlor again with their wine and charcuterie boards, while their books of the week have been left by the wayside, most half hidden under used paper plates.

As usual everyone else is enjoying themselves. Mona and Gary are animatedly going back and forth, fangirling about their newest favorite show, while Nora sits between them, with no clue as to what they were talking about, but nonetheless entertained by their enthusiasm.

Ava glances back over at Sara, who sits quietly in her chair, slouched with her wine glass held close to her chest, looking even more zoned out than Ava felt.

Well, _almost_ everyone.

Ava hated that they were still in this funk. It's been so long that she can't even find comfort that they were in it together anymore. Now she just needed it over and done with.

Wanting someone who doesn't want anything to do with you has to be the crappiest feeling ever. But that’s not something Ava can think about for too long without turning into an emotional wreck.

It’s pathetic really, considering how little time she'd actually spent with Diana. If this were Sara they were talking about, it would be make sense to be devastated by such a loss, but it's not.

It's _Diana_.

Ava takes a hearty gulp of wine. She's trying to be mindful of her intake but it’s unbearable. These feelings. And scary. She doesn’t know what it will take for her to finally get Diana off her mind or out of her heart once and for all. Sara said to just give it time, but Ava feels like there has to be more that she can do.

She was so desperate for some kind of solution that she had to turn to the internet for guidance. It, in turn, told her to take up a hobby. She's never been much of a hobby person, but she gave it a try and what ended up coming out of it is _Stabcast_ , a podcast dedicated to her interest in serial killers. She figured the content was so far from romantic that it would be the perfect distraction.

(It isn't.)

Ava gets so frustrated that one night when she’s working late, she decided to utilize the Bureau’s resources to look Diana up, because that’s the kind of brilliant idea you get when it’s eleven o’clock at night and you’re the right mix of exhausted and frustrated and don’t give a damn anymore.

Not that it did any good. According to the timeline, there was no such place as Themyscira, all mentions of _Amazon_ either had to do with the river or the inaccurate mythology, and while there were countless numbers of _Dianas_ running around, without any information beyond a first name or Zari’s hacking skills, any kind of search was pointless.

Afterword, Ava was filled with guilt unlike any other for being so disappointed and it’s enough to shame her out of ever doing something like that again.

Ava glances back at Sara, who is still zoned out in her chair, only now her head is leaning against her propped up arm.

God, things were so good between her and Sara before all this mess started and now nothing feels right and that makes her sound like the world’s worst girlfriend, which she probably is—

"You guys bored of each other already?"

Ava startles to attention, her gaze moving from Sara and back, believing for one horrified moment that they were the ones being addressed.

But Mona isn’t teasing _them_ , she's teasing Charlie and Zari who are halfway up the parlor steps. They usually passed on book club, choosing to do their own thing instead (usually in the company of each other, curiously enough) but they always seemed to find their way to the parlor anyways, ready with the excuse of wanting in on their booze and snacks.

Charlie saunters into the parlor first. Zari walks around her and grabs a few slices of cheese and some crackers off the table.

"Looks like we're not the bored ones here." Charlie chuckles, her chin lifting toward Ava and Sara.

Mona follows Charlie’s gaze and her shoulders drop with a deep sigh. Her big sympathetic eyes make Ava want to sink into her chair and hide away forever. "Okay, we really have to talk about this."

Zari plops herself down on the first open chair. “Talk about what?” she wonders, having missed the glance.

"The fact that Sara and Ava have been completely out of it for like the past three weeks." Mona explains, gesturing to them needlessly.

"I assumed you guys just had a fight." Nora quietly admits from the other side of the coffee table.

From beside her, Gary disagrees, explaining, "If they'd had a fight, Ava would have red, puffy crying eyes."

"I would not." Ava scoffs, glaring across the way at him.

Gary just tips his head, giving her a knowing glance in return.

Ava rolls her eyes. She snatches the bottle of rosé off the table, conceding, "Okay, yes I would, but that's completely irrelevant right now."

"Guys, we're fine." Sara assures, reluctantly joining the conversation. She straightens up a little in her chair. "Sorry if we're being bad company. We'll do better."

Ava echoes her sentiment with a half-hearted glass raise.

"C'mon guys, what's going on?" Mona gently implores.

"Yes, do tell." Charlie reaches over and plucks a beer out of the small ice bucket on the table. "It's about time we got to the bottom of your bloody moping."

"Thank you, Charlie." Mona nods, grateful for the support.

Zari eyes Charlie skeptically as she sits herself down on the armrest of _her_ chair. “What do you care?”

"I don't.” Charlie shrugs. “But watching them two be all out of sorts stopped being amusing like a week and a half ago. Now it's just annoying.”

Before either Ava or Sara can defend themselves, Charlie continues, “I mean, Ava, I've literally lost track how many times you've deep cleaned the entire ship." Ava pouts at the call out. She can't help that she's a stress cleaner. "And Sara, you don't want to go on missions anymore—"

Sara’s gaze narrows with confusion. "What are you talking about? I'm the Captain. I'm literally involved in every mission."

"As quarterback." Mona points out. "Charlie's right. You barely go out into the field anymore. And you usually love doing that."

Ava sips her wine quietly. It's something she noticed too. She didn't think much of it at first, figuring Sara needed a break, but now that there didn’t seem to be an end of it in sight and considering Sara's usual 'kicking ass is how we heal' mantra, it was unusual to say the least. Ava would have pointed it out had she known how to bring up the subject like a normal person.

"You know Gideon made an interesting observation the other day," Charlie drawls, her attention shifting directly to Sara, "Noticed something peculiar about the few missions that you have gone out into the field. They have but one thing in common apparently."

"Which is?" Sara questions in a bored tone.

"That they all were in eras that predate a certain Amazon's arrival to 'Man's World'." Charlie’s pointed stare lingers on Sara even as she takes a sip of beer.

Ava blinks at this new information, suddenly feeling stupid because how could she not have made that connection herself?

"And what does that have to do with anything?" Ava glances back at Sara just as she’s raising her shoulders. She doesn’t look guilty, just annoyed.

"I dunno.” Charlie shrugs. “Just seems like you're doing the most to avoid running into Diana again."

Sara’s eyes take on a defiant glare at the insinuation. "Well, I'm not avoiding her. It's just a weird coincidence."

Her voice isn’t quite as steady as it should in order to be a convincing truth.

Realizing that not only did Sara not want to see Diana again, but that she was literally going out of her way to ensure it didn’t happen, gives Ava a sinking feeling in her stomach. She has to set her wine glass down.

On the bright side, she’s glad she trusted her gut instinct and kept her mouth shut about this whole Diana thing.

"Let's be real, Sara.” Zari speaks up after Charlie just humors Sara with a nod, “You and Ava haven't exactly been yourselves since we got back from 1959."

Ava can’t help but grimace at the mention of 1959.

"Uh, what exactly happened in 1959?" Nora asks cautiously, her eyes darting back and forth in confusion. Aside from Gary she’s the only one who hadn’t been there on mission.

Neither wanting to get into this, Sara and Ava both answer at the same time, a little too quickly, "Nothing."

"This all just makes too much sense." Mona murmurs in awe, getting up and moving around the coffee table.

As she lowers herself to sit on the edge of the table in front of them, her hands move over her chest while her head tips with the weight of her sympathy, "You guys are blue because you're heartsick and miss Diana."

Ava pulls a face, then tries to play it off with an awkward laugh. "Mona, that's ridiculous."

Choosing to forget the fact that she has work in the morning, Ava reaches past Mona and picks her wine glass back up.

“I’ll say.” Sara scoffs, equally as awkward. She sets her wine glass down on the table and then gets to her feet. “We’re not heartsick.”

Charlie watches her go over to the bar cart. "What the bloody hell do you have to be heartsick about anyway?" Her gaze moves back and forth between Sara and Ava. "She was just as interested in you two as you were in her!"

Ava snorts. "Obviously not." she mutters against the rim of her glass.

"What exactly happened between you guys?" Zari asks.

Ava reluctantly lifts her gaze to make eye contact with Sara across the room. They share an uncomfortable, but resigned glance. There was no getting out of this conversation.

"Nothing happened,” Sara sighs, heading back to her seat, now with whiskey in hand. "We ate, we drank, we talked, we said goodbye, end of story."

"So not the end of story." Mona chuckles, unconvinced much like the others.

“Hey, crazy idea,” Ava deflects, “but why don’t we get to talking about our book of the week?” She grabs her book off the table and gives it a little wave. “I didn’t skim the wikipedia summary for nothin’.” Her joke falls flat, the others unwilling to be swayed away from the subject at hand.

Ava rolls her eyes and dumps her book back on the table.

“C’mon just tell us!”

“Tell you what?” Ava sighs in exasperation. “That you're right, Mona? That we do miss Diana? That we miss her because we really liked her and—"

"You guys told her about your feels but she rejected you and that's why you guys are so miserable?" Mona guesses in one quick breath, her eyes going wide. “I knew it.”

Ava just blinks at her. “No,” she starts out slowly, “We didn’t tell her.”

"But we did try giving her a time courier as a kind of friendship offering and she made it pretty clear she had no interest in seeing us ever again." Sara finishes.

Mona pulls back, her brow furrowed in bewilderment. "That doesn't sound like Diana."

"You don't even know her, Mona." Sara says with a gentle laugh.

"I don't need to." Mona perks up, her smile proud. "I can tell someone's character just by looking at them and Diana wouldn't be so callous. And anyways, I don't for a second believe that Diana doesn't have any interest in you two, because she had total heart eyes for you both the entire time we were at the beach."

Ava shakes her head, the gesture barely winning out against the urge to roll her eyes. "Mona, you're just saying that to make us feel better."

And she, for one, does not appreciate it.

"I know what I saw." Mona argues lightly. "I have incredible Kaupe vision, thank you very much."

"I'd listen to the little wolf if I were you.” Charlie points a finger back at Mona. “She knows what she's talking about."

Ava narrows her eyes at Charlie, doubtful to say the least. "You two don't even know Diana, hell, we barely do." she says with a glance at Sara, "What makes you think—"

"Amazons don't just let anyone handle their weapon." Charlie interrupts, effectively silencing Ava.

Ava falters. "What..." She shakes her head, her brain trying and failing to understand the connection. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Charlie takes a swig of beer then casually explains it to them. "Down at the beach when we were dealing with the hydra, Diana gave you and Sara her shield and sword without a second thought."

"Yeah, cause we needed to defeat the hydra." Sara drawls, still confused.

Charlie rolls her eyes at her. "You don't get it. Amazons think of their weapons as extensions of themselves, arguably their most important possessions. They don't just pass them off to people they barely know all willy nilly. Her trusting you with them is significant."

Gary looks over at Charlie. "How do you know so much about Amazons?" he asks out of curiosity.

"Don't tell me you've been to Themyscira too." Ava mutters with a groan, slumping further in her chair and taking another despondent sip of wine.

"I wish." Charlie leans back with a wistful smile. "Nah, I just, I knew the Amazons before the island. Before they..." Charlie trails off, suddenly less inclined to explain herself. "Just before."

Everyone just stares back at her, suddenly quiet from the implication that Charlie was actually much older than any of them previously thought.

"Anyways," Charlie loudly clears her throat before anyone can think too hard about her slip up and try to pry more information out of her, "You two have to be daft, dumb, and blind not to believe Diana isn't into you."

"That's easy for you to say." Sara scoffs. "You weren't there when tried to give her the time courier."

"Right, about that nonsense – whose brilliant idea was it to give a beautiful woman like Diana a watch when trying to ask her out?" Charlie’s head shakes in disbelief. "You probably had her thinking these useless blondes of the future have no idea how to court a woman."

Ava feels her face flush with embarrassment. "We weren't trying to ask her out! We were just trying to extend a friendly hand."

"Well there's your problem!" Charlie exclaims with a short laugh. "She was probably expecting you to make a move and you lot just gave her a ruddy watch instead. I would've buggered off myself if you'd pulled that with me."

Ava rolls her eyes, shaking her head. “We explained the purpose of a time courier and she wasn’t interested as a friend or otherwise.”

“Not that it matters anymore.” Sara says in a raised voice, her patience beginning to wear thin. “Into us or not, it’s over now, Diana’s gone, and we’re not gonna see her again.”

"That may be for the best." Nora speaks up, gently.

Mona whips around, her mouth dropping open in shock. "Nora!"

Nora cracks a small smile at Mona’s theatrics and holds up her hands in a placating manner. “Sorry, Mona, but it’s true. Look, I may not know the ins and outs of Greek mythology, but I've read enough to know that when mortals get involved with gods, it doesn't exactly end well for them."

"She's not wrong." Charlie murmurs, mouth against her beer bottle.

"Whose side are you on?" Mona huffs, still upset with Nora’s betrayal.

Nora calmly gestures to Sara and Ava. "On theirs." she reassures. "Which is why, as much as I want them to be happy, I also don't want them getting cursed or killed because they fell in love with the wrong pretty face."

Ava chokes on her wine at Nora’s casual drop of the l-word.

"Woah, woah, woah you guys are making way too much out of it." Sara interjects, similarly unnerved. "Ava and I just have a dumb crush, that's all."

"Yeah," Ava’s eyes water as she coughs and pats her chest, "We hung out with her _once_.”

To say their feelings amounted to anything more would be premature.

"If it were anything less than love, you two would not be pining so hard." Mona easily throws back.

“We're not pining!" Sara and Ava exclaim simultaneously, while convincing no one.

"You know, instead of speculating what Diana thought and what she meant, why don't you guys just ask her yourselves?" Zari suggests, obviously bored with all this drama. "It's not like we don't have the tech to contact her."

"That's a great idea, Zari!” Mona jumps up and spins around, hands clasped together with excitement. “Nothing like a little communication to clear the air. We can get Diana’s side of the story and put this all to bed."

"And then Diana can put Sara and Ava to bed." Charlie snickers.

Neither Sara or Ava find that comment amusing, leaving Charlie to roll her eyes in annoyance, "Oh, come off it. For all you know, she could be just as miserable as you two right now."

"But she's probably not." Ava mutters bitterly.

"People make mistakes." Gary meekly points out. "Maybe one of hers is pushing you two away."

But his opinion largely goes unheard as Charlie hops down from her perch, declaring, “I'm with Mona and Z. I say we look her up." She downs the rest of her beer in a flourish, earning herself some cheers.

Ava remains paralyzed in her seat. If anyone could find Diana’s whereabouts, it was Zari and the thought was a little more than terrifying. She was in no way mentally prepared to handle this!

"That's a terrible idea!" Ava protests too late, the others already on their feet.

"Have at it, Z." Charlie clasps Zari on the back while guiding her down the stairs. "Find us the mighty Amazon." Charlie glances at Sara and Ava over her shoulder, winking, “You’ll thank us later.”

Zari shrugs out of her grasp. "You know how to use this thing too, you know." she says, gesturing to the center console.

"Yeah, but..." Charlie leans in close, her voice lowering suggestively, "I don't have the magic touch. At least not in this case."

Charlie drawls back with a smirk and Zari just rolls her eyes.

"Flirt later, you two." Mona chides, joining them at the console. "Focus on the objective."

“Guys, we appreciate the concern, but this really isn’t necessary...” Sara stands up, voice trailing off when she realizes the others weren’t even remotely paying attention to her.

“Do they not realize there’s no point in looking for someone who obviously doesn’t want to be found?” Sara glances at Ava, who suddenly becomes very interested in her wine.

Thankfully Sara’s not really looking for a response from her, already turning on her heel in annoyance, hands flying up in surrender. “Whatever.”

She snatches her glass back off the table to refill it. “You guys waste your time.” Sara says that last part loud enough for them to hear, but again is ignored.

Ava shifts uncomfortably. She knows this search was a lost cause, so she should really speak up, but she doesn’t want Sara knowing she’d looked for Diana, not when Sara’s been avoiding her, cause then that’d be a whole awkward conversation…

Ava quickly shuts down that train of thought. She’s anxious enough as it is, no need to make it worse. Needing a distraction, Ava gets up and begins picking up around the parlor.

Rather than return to her chair, Sara meanders over to the parlor steps where she sits down, listening to their friends' commentary as they search the timeline for a Diana of Themyscira, Amazon Princess, and all the variations in between that Ava already tried and failed to get anywhere with.

"Well, _Diana_ is too vague a search on its own but adding 'princess' to the search just seems to overwhelm us with results involving Diana, the Princess of Wales." Zari murmurs, her brow furrowed in concentration, while her fingers tap and swipe away at the screen in order to find something unrelated.

"Ah, Princess Di, the only royal worth their salt." Charlie murmurs next to her, head shaking at the various headlines. "A bloody shame."

"I cried like a baby for weeks when she died." Mona nods, echoing the sentiment.

Just as Ava squints in thought, doing the mental math, Nora stops and asks, “Wait, but weren't you actually a baby at that time?"

"Yeah," Mona softly nods, getting misty eyed just thinking about it. "But I was very empathetic."

"Maybe we can't find Diana because she found her own way of returning to Themyscira and decided to stay there." Gary offers, forcing the others to stop and throw him incredulous stares.

"Gary, you're not helping." Mona whisper scolds.

Gary shrinks back. "Sorry, just a thought."

A thought that had definitely crossed Ava's mind but one she couldn’t believe. Diana wouldn't just abandon the oath she made to protect this world to return home for good.

But then again, what did Ava really know about her? One day spent together and suddenly she was an expert?

Shaking her head to herself, Ava grabs her wine glass off the table and takes another swig.

The rest of the night drags on slowly.

At a certain point Ava decides to be responsible and cuts herself off for the night. But it's a terrible decision, she only realizes after the fact, when her brain sobers up and floods her with renewed anxiety over this whole Diana thing.

She's not sure what outcome stresses her out more. The thought of them actually finding Diana or them _not_ finding her.

Ava looks over at Sara, who she was now sitting next to on the parlor steps and finds her face annoyingly impossible to get a read on. Which isn’t that out of the ordinary, but still.

Ava doesn't get it.

With all the precautions Sara's been taking to avoid running into Diana on missions, Ava would have expected Sara to at least make more of an effort to try and put a stop to this.

It’s probably just her wishful thinking, but it gets Ava wondering that maybe Charlie was wrong, maybe Sara did want to see Diana after all.

Ava sighs to herself, quietly indulging the possibility, while staring ahead. The only one who remained at the console now was Zari. The others had helped for as long as they could stand before ultimately falling asleep in their parlor chairs.

Neither Sara or Ava could convince Zari to abandon her post or to take a simple break. She waved off their concerns without so much as lifting her head, too engrossed in the task, her only requests being a snack stockpile and to be left alone.

Which left Ava and Sara with nothing to do but sit back with their chins in hand.

After fighting almost back to back yawns, Ava checks the time on her courier. It's later than she realized. She reluctantly moves to stand. Her hand squeezes Sara's shoulder briefly on the way up. "Babe, I'm gonna go check on Gary."

He had gone to Constantine's room a while ago, to see if his magic could help Zari's search, but hadn't returned. Ava really should have checked on him sooner but Sara kept assuring her that Gary was fine, that John knew better than to toy with his head or heart. She just hoped that was true otherwise she was going to have to kick his ass.

Ava walks down the parlor steps and heads for the doorway.

"Found her."

Ava stops dead in her tracks.

She almost doesn't believe her ears. But then the sound of the others rousing from their sleep comes, and Sara’s getting to her feet, pretty much confirming she wasn't just hearing things.

Ava turns herself right back around and marches over to the console.

"What? No way."

Ava wedges herself between Zari and Sara. She'd figured if there was anything to find, Zari would have found it a while ago.

But the proof was right there on the screen.

Ava is stunned silent at the sight of Diana's gorgeous face staring back at her. Figures. Only a goddess could be so devastatingly beautiful in something as mundane as an employee identification photo.

"What'd I tell you?" Charlie gives Zari a playful nudge, her smile prideful, "Magic touch."

Zari rolls her eyes, but is obviously fighting back a smile. "All I did was take the time to dig through all the Princess Diana clutter. It's not that big a deal." she shrugs modestly. "Any one of you could have done it...probably."

"Diana Prince." Sara reads aloud. "She works as an art curator for the Louvre."

"Fancy." Nora comments wearily, still in the process of waking up.

"She's in the city of love? Are you kidding me?" Mona leans forward, bracing herself against the console as her heels bounces up and down with excitement. "Guys, there's your sign right there that all this is all meant to be!"

Ava’s stomach drops. She balks at Mona from across the console.

"Hey, be sure to bring me back a croissant when you go." Charlie says, lifting her gaze from the screen.

"Ooh, macarons for me, please!" Mona requests.

Ava shakes her head, panic starting to take over, because how did this all get so real so fast — then quickly turns to Sara for help, but she's got that same deer in the headlights expression Ava feels is written all over her own face, which is never a good sign. Usually one of them has it together.

"Wait." Mona stops, her brow furrowing with realization, "You guys are going to see Diana, right?"

Before Ava knows it, every pair of eyes are on her and Sara, waiting expectantly.

Ava gulps and exchanges another helpless look with Sara. Together they end up stammering at the same time, "Well, uh—"

"We haven't—"

"Captain," Gideon suddenly says from above, "Hate to interrupt but I'm detecting a disruption to the timeline."

"A fugitive alert." Sara exhales in relief. "Perfect timing. I'll go round up the guys."

"I'll help you." Ava quickly volunteers, and then the two of them practically race each other toward the exit.

"Hey! This isn't over!" Mona calls after them, but by then they’ve already crossed into the hallway.

Ava and Sara don't slow down until they're far from the bridge, out of earshot.

"I can't believe Zari found her." Ava’s head is still reeling, her heart palpitating inside her chest. “I mean, I _can_ , it’s Zari…” Ava trails off, catching sight of Sara’s far off stare. “Sara?”

Sara snaps out of it, kind of. "Yeah, me either." she says distantly.

Ava can't tell if that dazed look was because of Diana or just too much alcohol. Probably a mixture of both.

"They're not gonna let up until we do something about this." Ava finds herself saying. "Or at least Mona won't."

Sara scoffs and starts down the hallway. "She will if she wants to continue being part of this team."

Ava follows her with pursed lips, that sinking feeling back in her stomach.

Sara belatedly registers Ava's silence. She double-backs and eyes her hesitantly. "Do you want to do something? I mean, do you wanna see her?"

Logically Ava knows there's no correct answer that Sara is looking for but that doesn't stop her neurotic brain from warning her otherwise. As a result, Ava panics, "What? No, of course not."

Sara blinks. "Oh— _okay_."

Ava cringes. She wanted to take back the words as soon as they left her mouth. Too late for that now. Ava clears her throat, hands twisting together. "Do _you_ want to?" She peers at Sara tentatively. "Cause it's okay if you did. I wouldn't —"

"I don't." Sara's certainty takes Ava by surprise. It shouldn't, really. Sara's reaction to this whole Diana situation was lukewarm at best. But it still does.

Ava shakes her head of the thought and forces herself to move past it. "Good. I mean, it's good that we're on the same page. We should respect Diana's choice and leave things the way they are."

Ava wishes she felt as certain as her words sounded. It would definitely make things a lot easier.

"Right." Sara agrees, visibly relaxing. And it just makes Ava feel worse, but she tells herself it's okay. That this was for the best. That this doesn't hurt. "We should just leave well enough alone."

Ava nods along silently. Sara’s right. Besides, their relationship has just gotten to a comfortable place and for all they knew, throwing a demigod into the mix, however intriguing, might just do it more harm than good.

By the time they reach the fork at the end of the hallway, Sara has switched into full Captain mode. “Can you grab Constantine? I'll grab the others."

Ava nods, and they branch off without another word.

Ava knocks on Constantine's door and waits with her arms crossed. To her great relief, the door panel slides open almost immediately.

"Hello, love." Constantine drawls, his usual smirk playing across his face. "Here for your son?"

Ava just shoots him a withering look. She's in no mood for his jokes. (Not that she's ever).

"Gary, ya mum's here to pick you up." Constantine calls out over his shoulder. Despite her better judgment, Ava follows his gaze to find Gary rousing from sleep. Her heart stops at first glance of seeing Gary on Constantine’s bed, but he’s on it, not _in_ it, thankfully. Clothes and all.

Gary sits up, glasses askew, and looks around bleary-eyed. "Huh?"

"C'mon, Gary." Ava gently beckons when he finally spots her, nodding to the side. "Time to go."

"M'kay." Gary closes the book he'd fallen asleep reading and sets it aside. He staggers toward her with his glasses pushed up as one hand rubs the sleep from his eye. "I haven't found anything yet but there's this spell—"

"It's okay, Gary." Ava waves a tired hand to get him to stop talking. "Zari found her."

Gary pulls his hand away, causing his glasses to abruptly drop back in place. He blinks in astonishment. "What? That's great!" His fatigue suddenly gone, he bounds up to her, arms outstretched, ready to share in her excitement. Ava tries to muster up a smile for his sake but it ends up more like a upturned grimace.

Once Gary registers her expression, he stops short. "...isn't it?"

Ava nearly responds but is reminded of Constantine's lingering presence. Her back straightens as she stares at him. She nods out the door. "There's a fugitive alert. Sara wants everyone on the bridge."

Constantine rolls his eyes at her clipped tone but nods, grabbing his jacket on the way out. Ava hangs back until he's out of hearing distance before following suit, guiding Gary out with her hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asks him quietly. She knows it's not always easy for him to be around Constantine now that he ended things between them, especially since Gary had really hoped something more would come of their dalliance. He seemed to be doing better lately, but Ava still liked to check in.

Gary nods. It's a sincere one, not one of his _I'm saying I'm fine, but I'm not really_ nods, so Ava relaxes.

"Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah," Ava gives a faint nod, her hand sliding from his shoulder. She looks away but can still feel the weight of Gary's gaze on her, forcing her to admit, "No. I don't know. I'm still processing."

"Do you think you'll see Diana?" Gary asks tentatively.

"Uh, you know, probably not." Ava says in what she hopes is an unaffected enough way. "But it's fine. With the way things were left, showing up out of the blue, decades later, would just be awkward." Just thinking about it makes her shudder with secondhand embarrassment. "She's probably forgotten us by now, anyhow."

"I don't know about that, you're a pretty hard woman to forget."

Ava rolls her eyes but flashes Gary a small appreciative smile.

"I think you should see her."

"Gary," Ava groans, shoulders dropping, "You're just saying that because you ship the three of us together." She makes a slight face, unsure if she was even using that term correctly.

"No,” Gary denies, but Ava throws him a hard look that he immediately caves under. “I mean, sure would I like my otp to evolve into an ot3? Yes," As Gary babbles on, Ava’s expression turns long suffering. That was one too many young millennial slang words for her to comprehend. "But more importantly, I just want you to be happy again. I don't like seeing you all mopey."

Ava sighs, her gaze softening. Gary was so sensitive to other's feelings he couldn't help but be affected.

"I can go with you, you know." he goes on to offer. "Be your moral support. Where's she hiding anyway?"

"Paris." Ava answers. "She's a curator for the Louvre, apparently."

Ava glances back in time to catch Gary's goofy open-mouthed smile. "That's amazing. I can totally picture her running around dangerous ruins and recovering ancient artifacts. Like Lara Croft!"

Ava stares at him blankly, the pop culture reference lost on her. "I'm pretty sure curators just organize exhibits."

Though it wouldn't at all surprise her if Gary was right. A woman as gifted as Diana would have no trouble at all getting into spaces normal people wouldn't have access to.

"Wait," Gary lightly touches Ava's arm, bringing her to a stop, "What does Sara think about all this? Did you guys get to talk after Zari found her?"

"Yeah, a little." Her gaze lowers while she speaks. "But, uh, Sara's not interested." Ava clears her throat and forces her chin up. "She doesn't want to see her. Not that I blame her."

"But you want to." Gary says, reading her face clearly.

Ava grimaces and folds her arms back across her chest. "I don't want to." she denies petulantly. "I just...want to."

That admission has Ava rolling her eyes at herself and scuffing her boot against the floor in annoyance. Why couldn't her head and her heart just get into agreement on this?

"So just tell Sara that." Gary says with an easy smile. "Maybe hearing that from you will change her mind."

Ava shakes her head, shoulders stiff at the very idea. "It wouldn't change anything." she dismisses. Gary gives her a quizzical stare. She rolls her eyes, explaining, "Even if Sara and I both wanted to see her, the fact remains that Diana doesn't want to see us."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, Gary." Ava snaps. "I'm sure."

Her temper flare up diffuses as quickly as it had taken over. She exhales deeply and sends him an apologetic glance.

"But you're like the coolest person I know." Gary continues unaffectedly. "And Sara's the second. It doesn't make sense that Diana wouldn't want—"

Ava bristles. "It doesn't have to make sense, Gary." she interrupts, her voice catching on the sudden lump in her throat. She swallows hard and begins blinking rapidly against the sudden surge of emotion. God, she hates that she can worked up so easily. Her gaze cuts away as she tries to keep it in check, but all she manages to do is give herself a headache. Sara doesn't want this. Diana doesn't want this. It's okay.

"Hey, it's okay." Gary's arms start to lift in an attempt to console her but Ava shrugs out of the way, knowing it would just make her break faster.

"Can we stop talking about this? Please." Ava requests quietly, looking anywhere but at him. They're nearly at the bridge and she can't go back in there all emotional and worked up in front of Sara, she'd notice right away and then they’d have to talk and Ava really doesn’t want that.

Gary just nods.

"Thanks again for bringing me along tonight." he says instead.

It’s not Gary's first book club but it's still a recent enough development that he still thanks her when it's over.

"No problem, Gary."

She's good at being his boss, not so good at being his friend, she can admit. But she's been working on it, trying to include him more. He might be a little much for her at times, but she honestly does like him.

"In return, I’d like to extend an invitation to my D&D night this week."

Ava sighs. She’s been given an invitation to his D&D night every week since they've known each other, or so it's felt like, and every week she's turned him down.

But this time she just doesn’t have it in her to say no. "Yeah, okay."

Gary stops short. Ava stops with him, raising an eyebrow. She expected some level of elation from him, not the alarmed look he’s giving her now. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ava glances over her shoulder, half expecting some kind of horrifying demon fugitive to be standing behind her, but there’s nothing there.

By the time she turns back around, Gary has already thrown himself at her, squeezing her into a bone crushing hug, wailing, “Oh, you poor thing! You're in a much worse place than I thought!" He lets go of her with such jarring suddenness, Ava feels it in her neck. “Don't you worry, I'm going to make it all better! I know exactly what will cheer you up!"

Ava’s eyes widen in horror, her heart all but dropping into her stomach as she watches Gary lift up his wrist to activate his time courier, presumably to go play matchmaker.

“Gary, don’t!”

Ava lunges, grabbing hold of Gary before he can touch a single button.

Gary gulps. His gaze darts down to where Ava still has a vice like grip on his arm. "So…you don't want a batch of double fudge brownies?"

Ava blinks for a moment. "Oh." Her grip slackens and Gary takes back his arm, rubbing it gingerly. "I thought…” Ava exhales and shakes her head, her embarrassed gaze dipping to the floor. “Nevermind, sorry."

"Don't worry I’m going to make them with extra love.” Ava looks up at the feel of Gary’s hand on her shoulder. She can’t help but squint a little at the idea of ‘extra love’ going into these brownies, whatever that means. “And yes, I know you prefer cookies, but this is a brownie emergency if I ever saw one."

Ava swallows and gives him a stiff nod, her heart still recovering from that momentary panic. “Right. Thank you, Gary.”

She doesn't really want him going through all that trouble just for her sake but if he’s made it his mission to cheer her up, frankly having him at home focused on baking is the safest, less intrusive, option.

Besides his brownies are actually really good.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Gary tells her brightly.

Ava waves him off with a faint smile, watching in silence as he taps at his time courier and portals himself home.

As soon as Gary is gone, Ava stops to give herself a moment to just breathe.

God, this whole Diana thing really has her paranoid.

Gary wouldn’t dare go to Paris. He knew if he did, she’d totally kill him.

—

_Oh boy, Ava is totally going to kill him._

Gary shuffles along, cringing with every step, wishing he could just disappear as his presence turns more and more heads. Instinct urges him to keep his head down but he really needs to see where he’s going right now. He’s not looking to get hit by another car or get himself hopelessly lost – if he wasn’t already.

Usually when Gary sleepwalks, he just ends up around the corner from his apartment. Sometimes, if he’s particularly stressed about work, he’ll use his time courier to portal himself to the Time Bureau. This is the first time he’s ever sleepwalked his way to a whole other country before.

The last time Gary was in Paris, it was 1681, and it had been brief, a quick return of a time displaced King Louis XIV.

Gary can only assume he brought himself here of all places because of last night. After book club, Ava’s Diana situation was pretty much all he could think about and though he’d stayed up late to make Ava her brownies, apparently his subconscious wanted to help out Ava in a way that went beyond just baking for her.

He just wished his subconscious self would remember to put on shoes for once.

Gary turns a corner and his heart just about leaps for joy at the sight of that famous glass pyramid in the distance.

_Oh, thank God._

Gary hurries to reach it. Initially, the very idea of having to seek out _her_ help petrified him, but now, after walking who knows how many blocks, he was too tired and desperate to care what he had to do to get home.

Gary only returns to worrying when he finally arrives at the line for the entrance. All he had in his possession was the tupperware of brownies he’d intended to give Ava, but for whatever reason his subconscious thought a good idea to bring along, and he doubted the Louvre was in the habit of giving away tickets in exchange for baked goods.

As Gary deliberates, he can sense the eyes of the nearest security guard on him. In his bright blue flannel Beebo pajamas with matching socks he sticks out like a sore thumb and it probably doesn’t help that he keeps staring at the building like he’s trying to find another way inside.

Gary quickly stops and changes tactics.

He approaches the security guard with what he hopes is a nonthreatening smile. Without an ingestible translator, Gary will have to rely on his high school french. It leaves much to be desired but thankfully the security guard, Armand, his name badge reads, seems to understand enough English to compensate.

Gary does his best to explain his predicament in a calm and rational manner, without obviously mentioning the time traveling technology, but security guard Armand keeps eyeing Gary’s pajamas and seems reluctant to take him seriously. Gary probably would be too, if their positions were reversed. A woman like Diana Prince probably attracted all kinds of nutjobs.

But to Gary’s surprise, he isn’t given the brush off. Security guard Armand makes a call on his walkie and after some back and forth…and then _even more_ back and forth, Gary is left to wait on a small bench with the assurance that Diana is on her way.

Given how rare it is for things go his way, Gary isn’t quite convinced that he’s not just being humored until the police arrive to take him away to the Bastille. He debates making a run for it and is very close to doing so, when he hears “Mademoiselle Prince…” out of security guard Armand.

Gary lifts his head and all but jumps to his feet at the sight of Diana approaching them. She is just as beautiful as he remembered, though somehow even more intimidating out of the armor. Gary almost forgets how to breathe.

"Thank you, Armand." Diana says to the security guard, relieving him of his presence with a polite smile and nod. “I can handle it from here.”

Security guard Armand lingers, casting another unsure glance at Gary and his brownies and Beebo pajamas. He says something to Diana in French but she just smiles and nods, squeezing his shoulder as reassurance.

When it’s just the two of them, Diana turns her attention toward Gary, appraising him with concerned eyes. “Gary Green, are you alright?”

Gary quickly nods and bows to her. "Yes, your highness—"

Her eyebrow ticks up and Gary’s mouth promptly clamps shut. He straightens up with a wince as Diana gently corrects him, "It's just Diana, remember?"

"Right.” Gary nods, and awkwardly jerks back when he catches himself leaning forward to bow again in apology. “Sorry, Diana."

Diana steps forward, a small smile on her face, and removes her shawl, draping it around Gary’s shoulders before he can even think to protest. Her hands move to his arms, both as a way to guide him toward the museum and help him warm up. “Let’s get you inside, shall we? It’s cold this morning.”

Gary nods wordlessly, suddenly overcome by Diana’s incredibly appealing perfume, and follows her lead.

Inside, Gary shuffles along in the most pleasant of dazes, happily bundled by the softest fabric ever made. If people are staring at him, for once he’s none the wiser.

They take an elevator to a restricted level and then take several turns along the floor before approaching an entryway bookended by two massive sphinx-like statues. At the end of the long corridor, Gary guesses, is Diana's office. As he gets closer, sure enough the gold lettering on the door reveals, _Diana Prince, Curator, Department of Antiquities_.

Diana swipes her keycard through the slot and unlocks the door. He steps in after her and closes the door behind him. “I’m really sorry about this.” Gary starts, figuring it safe to talk now.

He follows Diana down a small staircase that leads into her actual workspace. He’s amazed to find the walls lined with display cases up to the ceiling, each filled with different artifacts from various ancient civilizations.

Gary gawks at the sheer amount of combat weapons and armor Diana keeps displayed behind her desk alone. Swords, shields, daggers, and other intimidating things Gary didn't have a name for and was probably better off not knowing their proper use.

“Would you mind explaining to me what really happened, Gary?”

Diana offers him a seat which he gladly takes. Walking through the city without any kind of arch support had his feet howling in pain.

“Well,” As Gary racks his brain for a starting point, it suddenly occurs to him that his starting point was quite literally in his lap. “I made brownies.”

That remark gets a small laugh out of Diana, which puts him a little more at ease.

“Yes, I can see that.” Diana nods, still smiling.

_And wow, she’s really got a great smile._

Feeling emboldened, Gary holds up the container in his hands. It’d be rude of him not to offer her one after all. “Would you like one?”

Diana politely shakes her head. “No, thank you.”

Knowing Diana was still waiting on an explanation, Gary takes a deep breath, determined to keep it short and to the point, but as usual his words all end up tumbling out at once, “I’m a sleepwalker and I accidentally portaled myself right into the Arc de Triomphe roundabout. I woke up, panicked and ran and then kinda got hit by car. My time courier broke, but my brownies are fine,” Gary briefly lifts the container, “And now I’m stranded and you’re the only person I know who lives here. So if I could just use your phone, I promise I’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible and you’ll never have to see me again.”

Diana gives him a blank stare for the longest time. Gary patiently waits for her, knowing it’s a lot of information to process. When Diana finally does snap out of her daze, her head tilts and eyes squint with disbelief like she wants to question everything he’d just told her. But like most people, she decides against it, instead walking around to the other side of her desk and grabbing him a cell phone.

She hands it over to Gary and he resists the urge to kiss the floor at her feet, dipping his head in thanks instead.

“Thank you.”

He hurriedly types in Mona’s number and presses the phone to his ear. With all the texting and binge-watching they’ve been doing lately, she’s one of the few numbers he has memorized by heart.

He just hopes the legends aren’t still on mission.

When his call goes unanswered, panic sets in and Gary quickly tries again.

And then again.

“Please pick up,” he says into the phone, “Oh, please pick up.”

Diana overhears his not-so-quiet chanting. “If you need a way back to D.C., I can always—”

“No!” Gary exclaims, head jerking up, eyes going wide all at once. Diana quirks a brow at his reaction, forcing him to cover up his initial panic with an exaggerated smile. “I mean, no thank you.” he says with feigned casualness. “It’s okay.”

Gary quickly turns his attention back to the phone screen in his hands.

_Please, pick up._

Finally, a groggy, _“Hello?”_ comes through the other line.

Gary frowns and presses the phone back up to his ear. He knows Mona’s voice and that was not it. “Zari? Why are you answering Mona’s phone?”

_“’Cause Mona can sleep through a nuclear blast when she’s tired enough_.” Zari gripes. _“I could hear her phone ringing from my room. So what do you want, Gary? This better be an emergency.”_

“I sleepwalked my way to Paris and broke my time courier and I need someone to come get me asap.” Gary explains in a single whispered breath.

_“Oh, Gary, you didn’t.”_ Zari groans, making him wince. _“Look, I know you’re new_ _to the group chat and all, but what is said on the group chat, stays on the group chat. We were joking. We weren't seriously gonna parent trap them."_

“I know that.” Gary scoffs, frowning defensively. “This was a complete accident.”

_“Just tell_ _me you didn’t make contact with her.”_

Gary glances back at Diana, face twisting sheepishly, and meekly says to Zari, “Do you wanna say hi?”

_“Dude, seriously?”_

“I didn’t mean to I swear…” Gary starts, before shaking his head, “Look, I’ll explain it all later and you can yell at me then, but right now I just need someone to come and get me _please_.”

_“Okay, okay, I’ll be right there.”_ Zari mutters. _“Just hang tight.”_

Zari ends the call and Gary exhales deeply, significantly calmer. He hands the phone back to Diana. “They’re on their way.”

Diana’s posture straightens. “You mean?”

Gary frowns at her. He doesn’t expect to find such worry on her face.

“No, uh, Zari I meant.”

Diana just nods. Her posture relaxes, but her face doesn’t seem to reflect that same relief. It’s closer to disappointment, Gary thinks.

It’s then that Gary realizes what was going on. Diana _did_ want to see them after all. He knew it! Feeling the excitement begin to well up inside him, he quickly looks away before Diana can notice anything. He doesn’t want her thinking this was some kind of premeditated meeting on Sara and Ava’s behalf.

So Gary opts to quietly sit and wait for his rescue.

Unfortunately, Zari ends up taking way longer than Gary could have anticipated. But in the meantime, Diana has someone bring up hot chocolate and fresh pastries for him. Gary’s grateful, both because he’s hungry and because eating gives him something to focus on other than how much he wants to bring up Ava and Sara.

“So, Diana, it’s been awhile…how have you been?” Gary cringes a little at how awkward that sounded. He’s never been good at starting conversations or ending them…or participating in them at all, really.

“I’ve been well.” Diana carefully answers, now leaning against the edge of her desk as she watches him. “And yourself?”

Suddenly regretting his choice to take a bite of pastry in that moment, Gary tries to chew it down quickly. “Good,” he nods. “I mean, aside from today.”

Diana nods, eyeing him tentatively. “May I ask a question?”

Gary nods without thinking, too distracted by how delicious his pain au chocolate is. The ones back home really don’t compare.

“How did you know I worked here?”

Gary splutters and chokes a little on his pastry. Diana pushes off of her desk, presumably to come and thump him on the back, but he just shakes his head and waves her away. He’s fine after a moment. A little breathless and panicked, sure, but at least not dying.

Gary can’t bring himself to make eye contact, not when he knows there’s no way he’ll ever get away with lying to Diana. He doesn’t even want to attempt it. The last thing he wants is to give her a reason to smite him. He doesn’t want to die a nipple-less virgin.

His solution? To shove more croissant into his mouth and change the subject and pray Diana has enough mercy to just go along with it.

“This is really good pastry.” he says, chewing around a large mouthful. “Did you make it yourself? I’ve never made croissants myself, not unless you count the ones that come in the can—”

“Gary.” Diana prompts, with just a hint of sternness.

Gary swallows thickly. His nerves have the croissant going down like cement.

“Some of the legends may have recently looked into your current whereabouts.” he nervously admits. ”But that’s only because Ava and Sara—“

Gary stops short, his brain catching up to his mouth all at once.

Diana raises an eyebrow, willing him to continue, “Ava and Sara?”

“They…” Gary shrinks under the weight of Diana’s stare. “Miss you.”

_Oh, yeah, if Ava ever finds out about this, she is definitely going to kill me,_ Gary thinks with a whimper.

Diana falters, obviously not anticipating that response. Her brow pulls together as she tries to understand. “So that is the reason you’re here.”

“No, no!” Gary shakes his head quickly, getting up out of his chair in the same instance, “I know it sounds like I’m making this all up but I’m not.”

Sure, he’d do a lot of things for Ava but casually destroying a time courier was not one of them. Every time he loses or breaks one, it gets taken out of his paycheck and those things are expensive as heck!

“But while we’re on the subject of Ava and Sara…” Gary tentatively looks back at Diana with a hopeful smile.

Being Ava’s best friend means also being her wingman (whether she realizes it or not) and if she’s too scared to reach out to Diana, maybe he can do the hard part for her and get Diana to make the first move. He might as well try while he’s here, right?

“Gary,” Diana sighs. She sits back down on the edge of her desk and shakes her head at him, apparently knowing where this conversation was headed but wanting no part of it.

Gary raises his shoulders innocently. “All I was going to say is that they enjoyed spending time with you.”

“And I with them. But,” Diana folds her arms across her chest, before sighing and settling with, “it is complicated.”

Gary tracks her movement and takes her lack of a wedding band as a reassuring sign. “How so?”

"I cannot be their friend and they cannot..." Gary's head tilts curiously, but Diana catches herself of whatever she was going to say and clears her throat, changing it to, “It is for the best, this way. Trust me.”

Gary still doesn’t understand. But since he doesn’t want to be smited for being too nosy, Diana looks uncomfortable enough as it is, he keeps his mouth shut. 

Luckily Diana catches sight of his furrowed brow and admits, “Whenever I get close to people, it does not end well."

Realizing Diana’s hesitance was a matter of not wanting to be with them, but not wanting them to get hurt, Gary feels encouraged to do what he can to ease her doubts. "Sara and Ava are two of the most capable women I’ve ever met." he says, trying to lift that solemn expression from Diana's face. "They can handle anything."

Diana heaves a deep sigh, her eyes closing momentarily. "I do not doubt that, Gary, but I have great enemies—"

"So do the legends!" Gary interrupts, with maybe a little too much eagerness. "In fact, they get new enemies every year, like clockwork. It's actually quite eerie."

Judging by her expression, Diana remains unconvinced.

“I’m sorry.” Gary winces. “I’m making you uncomfortable. It’s just…Ava’s my best friend. And she hasn’t been the same since you last saw each other. Sara either.”

Diana’ expression falters. "If I hurt them, that was not my intention." Her gaze slides to her lap. "I did not anticipate—I thought I was doing what was best for all."

“Usually what people say when they're trying to justify doing what's actually just best for themselves." Gary blurts out without thinking. When it registers that he had definitely said that aloud, he blanches and begins profusely shaking his head, "I am so sorry."

While Diana was talking, he couldn’t help but be reminded of all those ‘I walk alone, I damn everyone around me’ speeches Constantine liked to give (especially to Gary), which was probably what had him so sensitive. Even if it was for noble reasons, the rejection still hurt.

Diana shakes her head, a quiet sigh escaping her. "Do not apologize, you are right. I would be lying if I said I had not wanted to protect myself."

“Wanting to protect yourself is a perfectly normal thing to do but sometimes I think people get so focused on protecting themselves from the bad they don’t realize how much good they’re keeping out too.”

Diana doesn’t say anything, but she seems to be taking his words to heart.

Feeling encouraged, Gary gets up and walks over to Diana’s desk. He grabs a pen and what looks like an unimportant piece of paper out of the waste bin. “Here.” He doesn't know Sara's phone number off the top of his head, but he's had Ava's number memorized for as long as he’s known her. He writes it down and then, for good measure, adds their apartment address too.

"I know it's been decades for you but it's not too late to fix things.” Gary turns around and offers Diana the slip of paper. “If you want. I mean, if you're worried things won't work out in your favor, trust me, they want to see you, they're just a little scared to make the first move again."

Diana looks down, staring indecisively at his outstretched hand for the longest time. "Gary, I…"

Gary can see it in her eyes that she wants to, but he doesn’t know how else to convince her, at least not without telling her the full extent of Sara and Ava’s feelings, so he keeps his mouth shut and lets Diana decide for herself.

Unfortunately, whatever decision she arrives at ends up getting sidelined when her office phone rings and takes away her attention. As Diana twists around to answer it, Gary reluctantly drops his arm, then looks away to give her some privacy.

Diana listens for a moment, then nods, "Yes. Please send them to my office. No, that’s not necessary. Yes, I'm sure. Thank you." She hangs up and returns her attention to Gary. “Your friends have arrived.”

Gary heaves a great sigh of relief. But before Diana can forget, he tentatively offers the piece of paper to her again, reminding her of her choice.

Diana sighs. "I will take your words into consideration." Gary keeps his lips pursed to suppress his triumphant smile as she takes the paper. But evidently his efforts aren’t that successful, for Diana looks up and gives him a stern look, "But I make no promises."

Gary schools his expression and nods silently.

Diana moves toward the stairs, leaving to answer the door, even though a knock doesn’t come until she’s halfway up the stairs. Once at the top, she opens the door to reveal a security guard flanked by Zari and Charlie.

“Uh, hey, Diana.” Zari greets first, giving an awkward wave. “Long time no see.”

“Zari, Charlie.” Diana nods in return, stepping aside so they can come in. She dismisses the security guard with a ‘thank you’ and closes the door behind him.

While Zari and Charlie walk down the stairs, Gary shrugs off Diana’s shawl and neatly folds it up, leaving it on the chair he’d been sitting on.

“Sorry it took so long, Gary, but the team’s time courier wasn’t in the parlor where it was _supposed_ to be.” Zari explains, throwing a pointed glare at Charlie. “It took some sleuthing to find out who had it last.”

“I thought Z was just pulling my leg when she explained what was going on.” Charlie shakes her head, obviously trying not to laugh as she takes in Gary’s pajamas. “Bloody hell, Gary.”

“Yeah, yeah I know.” Gary wearily sighs, not really in the mood to go through all this again. He’s tired and bruised and he still has work today. “Can we just go now?”

“Right.” Zari agrees. As Gary grabs his container of brownies, Zari turns toward Diana, “We are so sorry about this mix-up. It definitely won’t happen again…will it, Gary?”

Suddenly finding himself on the receiving end on one of Zari’s sharp looks, Gary shakes his head in earnest, “No, no definitely not.” He glances at Diana, then panics, explaining, “Not that I don’t enjoy your company. You’re delightful. It’s just—”

Charlie rolls her eyes, interrupting Gary’s rambling with a firm tug, “C’mon, Gary.” Zari pulls up a portal to the Waverider at the foot of the stairs.

Gary starts toward it, until he hears Charlie say to Diana, “After you, princess.”

Gary stops and whips around at lightning speed in time to catch Diana’s blank look, while Charlie’s own confused gaze slides back to him. “Did you not tell her about…?”

Gary feels his eyes widen in horror.

“Not tell me about what?” Diana questions, her gaze darting between Charlie and Gary.

“Sara and Ava—“

“No, Charlie!” Gary exclaims, giving a kind of manic laugh as he all but pushes Zari and Charlie back through the time portal. “Bye, Diana!”

The portal no sooner fizzles closed behind Gary than he gets a shove in the chest from Charlie.

“What the hell, Gary!”

“Sorry,” Gary winces and rubs his chest, Charlie’s push not at all gentle, “but I didn’t tell Diana everything.”

“So, what? She doesn’t know they want to be with her?”

“Of course not!" Gary exclaims, his voice rising to a scandalized pitch. He immediately gets shushed and thrown incredulous glances by Zari and Charlie, reminding him of the obvious fact that the Waverider was in night mode, meaning everyone was still asleep.

“It’s not my place.” he continues in a whispered tone, hunching down.

“You literally went to Paris to talk to her!” Charlie scoffs, her voice also whispered.

“I didn’t mean to do that!” Gary huffs, a little frustrated no one seemed to believe him about that.

“Well, did you at least find out if Diana wants them?” Zari asks.

“Not in so many words.” Gary admits. “But she misses them, that much I could tell.” At Charlie’s exasperated look, Gary huffs, “She barely knows who I am, how would you expect her to open up to me?”

While Zari concedes to a nod on that point, Charlie shakes her head, maintaining, “All you had to do was tell her Sara and Ava liked her and if she did too to get on with it because they’re driving the rest of us crazy with their bloody moping!”

“That’s something Sara and Ava need to tell her themselves.” Gary protests. As it is, he’ll be in enough trouble they ever find out he’d been in Paris with Diana. He wasn’t about to make things worse for himself by going that far.

“He’s right.” Zari admits, sharing a look with Charlie. “This is between the three of them.”

Charlie quirks a brow at her. “Says the woman who spent _how_ many hours searching for Diana’s location?”

“Hey, all I did was get them some information.” Zari says, holding her hands up, “And even then, I mainly did it for the sake of the challenge. Whether or not they decide to do anything with it is up to them. I don’t really care.”

Charlie straightens up suddenly, her eyes widening with an unusual amount of alarm for someone usually so indifferent, and gives Zari’s arm a quick warning slap. “Oh, hey, Sara!”

Gary startles and whips around, masking his panic as best he can with an unassuming smile. Darn Sara and her ninja stealth.

Sara walks over to them, a glass of water in hand, looking groggy. “What are you guys doing up?”

“Oh, you know…” Zari casually starts. But when Sara raises a skeptical eyebrow, Zari rolls her eyes and drops the pretense. “Okay, how much did you hear?”

“Relax, I didn’t hear anything but a bunch of suspicious whispering.” Sara answers, rubbing one eye with the heel of her hand. “Which I’m too tired to care about, so whatever you did wrong and don’t want me to know about, you’re off the hook as long as you fix it yourself.”

Sara stops and squints at Gary, unable to ignore him and his obnoxious pajamas any longer.

“Gary? I thought you left.”

Before Gary can think of some kind of explanation, Sara’s attention drops further, to the container in his hands.

“And are those…brownies?”

Gary nods, following her gaze. He had planned to give them to Ava at work but he might as well give them to Sara now. “Uh, yeah, I said I’d make them for Ava and I just wanted to drop them off while they’re still warm.”

Gary hands them over, silently hoping that Sara is too sleepy to notice that they are definitely not still warm.

Sara takes the container. “Thank you, Gary. Now go home and get some sleep.” She turns to give Zari and Charlie a stern look. “And you two,” But when they both raise their eyebrows at her, Sara just waves them off with a tired sigh, “Just take your conversation elsewhere.”

Sara shuffles back down the hallway, returning to her room without another word.

“That was close.” Charlie breathes.

“Too close.” Zari agrees. “So let’s not push our luck any further. As far as we’re all concerned, this little incident never happened, got it?”

Gary nods, accepting the time courier Zari hands him. "You don't need to tell me twice." He programs a portal to his apartment, then hands back the time courier to Zari. This is one mishap he’ll have no problem keeping to himself.

He says his goodbyes and lets the portal close behind him. Once in his bedroom, he pulls off his glasses and collapses face first onto the mattress, body sagging with fatigue.

But his head no sooner hits the pillows than his phone alarm goes off.

_Just his luck._

—

Paris.

Sara can't get it out of her head.

Paris.

She's in _Paris_.

The thought won't leave her.

She should have known better. Of course Zari would've been able to find her. It's _Zari._ She can do anything she sets her mind to.

Though if Sara had really wanted to, she could have stopped her. If she'd asked her to stop, Zari would have, no questions asked.

But she didn't.

Instead she let Z and the rest of book club search and search, as if it was all out of her control because deep down, in spite of everything, she _did_ want to know where Diana was. She needed to know because not knowing had quietly been driving her crazy.

Now, here she was, still being driven crazy because now Sara has an exact location and she wants nothing more than to do something about it.

But going to Paris...that had to be one of the worst ideas ever.

Sara had a million reasons why, most of them boiling down to fears of rejection, heartbreak, and humiliation — things Sara did not handle well and that were all bound to be in store for her and Ava if she chose to do something as stupid as that.

And what kind of girlfriend would she be if she knowingly subjected Ava to that? A shitty one, that's what.

You'd think that overwhelming desire to not only protect herself but to protect Ava and their relationship would be enough to get her to completely stop thinking about it.

But it isn't.

Because that would be way too sensible and when it comes to feelings Sara's brain is anything but.

Sara absolutely hates it.

She hates how she can't even close her eyes without picturing that stupid, perfect Amazon face. The one that clearly had not wanted to say goodbye even though she did, leaving Sara to wonder if they should have tried harder to keep her. If that would have made any difference at all.

She especially hates that she hardly knows her and yet has been left with an ache beneath her ribs that definitely isn't heartburn no matter how many times she tries to convince herself otherwise.

Sara abruptly stops twiddling her pencil between her fingers. She shakes her head to herself, taking a deep breath. She was here alone in the jumpship, trying to take advantage of a quiet timeline and finish her stupid crossword puzzle, but all she's managed to do is work herself up again.

She knows she'll get over this eventually, that she just has to give it time, but patience has never been her strong suit.

Her gaze drops back to her crossword puzzle.

Okay.

Focus, Sara.

18 Across.

_Thunder God._

Sara scoffs quietly in disbelief.

Now the universe is just fucking with her.

Ignoring the first answer that comes to mind, purely out of spite, Sara writes the Norse god _Thor_ into the four available squares. Which of course only backfires on her when she gets to the other clues because the answer is actually _Zeus_ , and now all her surrounding answers are screwed up.

It's a mistake that's easy enough to correct with an eraser but seeing the damage done just pushes Sara to her breaking point. She flings the book at the wall and drops back against her seat, seething with frustration.

She can't even get through a stupid crossword puzzle without—

Suddenly the jumpship console beeps with an incoming call. Sara stares at the flashing name, hesitating to answer. She's in no mood to talk but Ava's obviously calling for a reason. It might just be a personal call but it also might be work related. Exhaling deeply to collect herself, Sara leans forward and answers the call.

"Hey, babe." she greets as soon as Ava appears on her screen.

"Hey you." Ava beams, and the sight makes Sara relax a little. Obviously there was no immediate fire to put out. "You, uh, busy?"

Sara leans back against her chair, casually shaking her head. "No, what's up?"

"You wanna train for a little bit? I've been in meetings all day and I need to do something physical before I completely lose my mind." Ava drums her hands against her desk to illustrate her point, and Sara finds herself smiling in spite of herself because Ava's damn cute when she's antsy.

If Sara were in a better mood, she probably would've teased Ava's apparent need for 'physical activity', maybe even suggested a different type of 'training' but as it is, she bypasses it, because training sounds like just the thing right now. Ray's signature tea blend wasn't relaxing her as well as she'd hoped.

"Yeah, sure." Sara nods, already straightening up in her chair. "Your place or mine?"

"Mine, definitely."

Sara smirks. "Was hoping you'd say that."

Not that she doesn't like training on the Waverider but the Time Bureau's gym setup was far superior to theirs.

Ava’s smile brightens. "Meet you there in ten." she says, then disconnects without another word.

Sara leaves the jumpship and heads back to her room to change into her workout clothes. Afterward, she grabs the team's time courier from the parlor and informs the first team member she can find - Nate - that Zari's in charge while she's gone and to pass it along.

Sara portals herself directly into the Time Bureau gym. Right away she notices it’s unusually quiet. Sara looks around and sure enough the room was completely empty.

Thank God.

The one downside of this place was that Ava's obnoxious underlings always seemed to be hanging around. They might play nice in front of Ava but as soon as her back was turned, they became their true asshole selves to all of the legends.

If she wasn't such a good girlfriend, she'd totally beat 'em all up.

Sara sits herself down on the floor and begins to stretch. About a minute later, Ava joins her, plopping down next to her with a heavy sigh.

Aside from some brief small talk at the beginning, they stretch together in relative silence, both on the same page that neither was particularly in the mood for conversation. When they're done, Ava takes two staffs from off the wall and tosses one to Sara. She catches it with ease and twirls it around as they both get into position in the center of the mat.

With a consenting nod from Sara, Ava moves first.

From there, Sara's brain shuts off as instinct takes over.

Back and forth across the floor, they move in a choreographed dance of strikes and blocks, attacks and parries. In lieu of talking, the gym is filled with their grunts of exertion and the near constant clanging of their metal batons. Both of which just grow in volume as their blows become less and less restrained. They can't help but get competitive, even during practice, and before long they're both drenched in sweat.

Despite their expertise, they keep making contact with each other, knocking each other in the shoulder or in the side, a sloppy indicator of their underlying lack of focus. They're both off their game, try as they might to convince themselves otherwise, making for one tense sparring session.

Their batons cross in an X and Ava presses hers forward, forcing Sara's own staff against her chest. If things were different, well, normal, Sara would've commented about the familiarity of the position, but right now she’s so frustrated that Ava had managed to back her up against the wall, she just jumps up and snap kicks Ava's abdomen to knock her back a few steps. Sara follows it up with a strike so powerful it completely dents Ava's baton when she moves to block it.

Sara snaps out of her daze and does a double-take at the sound.

She hadn't thought she hit that hard, but the ringing that bounces off the walls says otherwise. Nevermind the proof right there in Ava's hands.

Sara pulls back, hesitating to meet Ava's gaze. When she finally does, she expects to find some degree of alarm there, but all Sara sees reflected back at her is desire.

Her grip on her baton tightens in anticipation.

They stare at each other for long moment, panting heavily together. Sara's eyes can't stay still, darting from Ava's blown pupils to her supple mouth then down to those tantalizing beads of sweat making their way down Ava's neck and into her sports bra.

Suddenly fighting is the furthest thing on Sara's mind.

Sara casts aside her baton without taking her eyes off of Ava. Ava does the same. They waste no time closing the distance between them, mouths clashing in a mix of teeth and tongue.

Sara grips the back of Ava's neck, kissing Ava as deeply as she can. Ava reciprocates with a ferocity that Sara usually doesn't get to enjoy while being anywhere near let alone actually on Time Bureau property, professional boundaries and all that. Sara relishes in her unbridled passion, the hungry way Ava's hands rub deliciously up and down her sides and across her back. But as much as she wants Ava to take her right here right now, she also doesn't want Ava getting in trouble or having a meltdown about defiling the workplace later. Sara pulls away to tell her as much, and to you know, get some oxygen, only to have Ava crane her head to the side and dip down to lavish Sara's neck with hot open-mouthed kisses.

Sara clutches at her shoulders, eyes practically rolling back in her head.

Oh, that's good.

What — what was she talking about?

Her brow furrows as she tries to remember but Ava's mouth was currently moving down her chest and it was very distracting.

Home. Need to go home.

Sara nods to herself at the vague recollection and hooks her arms behind Ava to tap hurriedly at the time courier on her wrist.

It feels like it takes hours for the portal to materialize. When it finally does, Sara doesn't hesitate to push Ava back through it, earning a grunt of surprise from Ava.

To Sara's relief they stumble into their living room. She had been so distracted when summoning the portal she'd worried she might have accidentally brought them to the Ice Age or something.

Once Ava processes what had just happened, she wastes no time in spinning them around, picking Sara up to wrap around her waist and carrying her up the stairs. Sara would have chuckled at her eagerness if she weren't so thoroughly aroused by it. As soon as they reach the second floor, Sara unhooks her legs and slides down from Ava's body to begin grabbing and pulling at her sports bra. They push and pull their way into the bedroom, flinging and kicking away their clothing until nothing was left.

While they maneuver to the bed, Sara actively tries to not think about the real reason they're so worked up. She can only speak for herself but she's pretty sure her and Ava share the same source of sexual frustration.

It isn't until later, when Ava is in the throes of an orgasm, that Sara gets her confirmation, which comes in the form of a name flying out of her girlfriend's mouth that is definitely not Sara's.

"Oh, no."

Ava realizes her slip up at the same time Sara does, resulting in her head jerking off the bed in absolute horror. "I said her name, didn't I?"

Sara nods from above her, slowly taking her hand back. "Yup."

Needless to say things come to a grinding halt. But Sara's not upset, far from it. If anything it just proves what Sara already knows deep down to be true. That getting over this Diana thing was not working out as well as they needed it to.

"Oh God." Ava shrinks back into the bed, hands pulling up the sheets to cover her mortified face. "Sara, I am so sorry."

"Don't be." Sara sighs, a smile in her voice. She settles back on her haunches and swipes the sweaty strands of hair out of her face, before admitting, "I was thinking about her too."

It's honestly a miracle she herself hadn't slipped up.

Ava tentatively peeks out from the top of the covers. "Yeah?"

Sara's smile gets bigger. How was it that Ava managed to be so damn cute? "Yeah, babe." she chuckles, nodding.

Ava heaves a sigh of relief and pulls the sheet back down. "Well that makes me feel better."

Sara quirks an eyebrow. "Better than the orgasm?" she teases.

Ava rolls her eyes, smiling, and gently pushes Sara off of her. Sara laughs and allows herself to flop down onto the bed beside Ava. She rolls onto her back and together her and Ava just lay there and fall back to silence as they stare up at the ceiling.

"Babe?" Sara tentatively asks, after a while.

"Yeah?"

Sara keeps her gaze trained upward as she speaks. "Are you okay?"

She can hear the rustle of Ava's hair against her pillow as she shakes her head. "No."

Somehow, Sara finds both comfort and dread in that answer.

"Me either." Sara hesitates to elaborate, only to then decide she can’t bear to hold it in any longer. “I'm tired of missing her."

"Me too." Ava quietly agrees.

Sara glances over at her. "Yeah?"

Ava meets her gaze with a timid nod, then looks down as she begins fiddling with the edge of the bed sheet. “You know, I even tried looking for Diana myself."

"Really?"

With her gaze downcast, Ava misses Sara’s small smile. She nods quickly, taking the surprise in Sara’s tone as something negative, and her eyes squint shut as if to brace herself for the fallout. "I should have told you sooner, I know and I'm sorry—"

"I did the same thing."

Ava stops short, her brow lifting in surprise. "You…looked for her too?"

Sara nods. Even though Ava just admitted to doing the same, she can’t help still feeling embarrassed. "I couldn't sleep one night,” she explains, sitting up and then moving back to rest against the headboard. “I thought getting some answers would help me get over it. But when I couldn't get them, I just figured it was a sign that it wasn't meant to be."

Ava frowns, beginning to sit up too. "I thought you weren't interested in seeing her again."

"I wasn't. Then I was. Then I wasn't. Then I was again." Sara rolls her eyes at herself, sighing heavily, "I kept going back and forth...I wanted to be sure of what I wanted before I brought anything up with you. But then book club happened, and I was just trying to go along with what I thought you wanted, cause…I dunno, it seemed like it’d be easier than admitting the truth. It was stupid.”

"It's not stupid. It's....exactly what I was doing." Ava says with an awkward chuckle.

Sara smiles faintly. "Maybe we shouldn't fight this so hard."

"Maybe." Ava’s gaze dips down. "I just feel like she rejected us once already and that we’d only be setting ourselves up to let her do it again..."

“Yeah, I definitely feel that. But then again, a lot of time has passed for her since then. She could feel differently now." Sara reasons.

"Sixty years is a long time, Sara. A really long time." Ava continues unsurely. "Let's be real, she's probably forgotten all about us."

Sara had considered that and tried to convince herself of it, but it didn’t feel right. “I just can't get it out of my head." she says quietly.

"Get what out of your head?"

"The way she looked at us when she was saying goodbye."

"And how was that?"

Sara looks back at Ava. "Like she didn't want to."

"But she still did." Ava quietly points out. "And even now, when we all live in the same present year, she hasn't tried to reach out."

"Far as we know." Sara murmurs. "I mean, legally I’m still dead and you're technically a cl—"

Ava tenses at the same time that Sara catches herself. Fortunately she's able to correct herself before the c-word slips out in its entirety. "Clever woman from the future who runs a super-secret government organization."

Sara cringes even as she says it. She turns toward Ava, her eyes full of apology.

Ava smiles weakly back at her. "Nice save."

"Sorry, babe. I was just trying to make a point. We might not be so easy for her to find."

"I don't know,” Ava sighs, “I just feel like we got so lucky with each other and lightning doesn't strike twice, you know? And even if it did, do you honestly think we'd be able to make it work with her?" Ava asks, fiddling with the sheets in her grasp. "I mean Diana is literally a goddess."

Valid concerns that Sara definitely shares, but, “If I've learned anything from being with you, it's that together, we can make anything work.”

Ava smiles affectionately toward her, but says nothing, still unconvinced.

"Look, I know you're scared, I'm scared too." Sara says, reaching over and taking Ava’s hand in hers. "But I'm kinda losing my mind here. I feel like if we don't do something, we're not ever gonna be able to get on with our lives. We at least need some type of closure."

"You're right. You're always right." Ava nods, sighing. "We need to do the adult thing and just communicate how we feel."

"Right." Sara agrees, though her mouth twists at the idea. Sure she was a better at dealing with this kind of stuff nowadays, but putting herself out there emotionally was all still so uncomfortable. "Even if it doesn't work out, at least we'll know for sure where we stand with her and we won't have anything left to dwell on."

"So, should we go now?" Ava glances at her wrist, so used to having her time courier there, but then remembers she'd taken it off earlier. She looks back at the clock on the nightstand, brow furrowing as she tries to mentally calculate what time it currently was in Paris.

"Babe, we'll figure it out tomorrow.” Sara sinks back down into the sheets and presses her cheek against Ava’s shoulder. ”Make a game plan then."

As much as Sara would like to finally rip this band aid off, she also needs to like, mentally prepare before they go anywhere.

"Okay, yeah, that sounds good." Ava nods, shimmying down to relax against the pillows. If anyone likes plans and preparations, it's her.

"For now, how about we Bestflix and chill?" Sara suggests, drowsy now that the adrenaline has worn off.

"Well we just chilled." Ava chuckles, glancing down at themselves.

"Three times." Sara adds with a smug smile.

"Which leaves us to Bestflix." Ava says with a sigh, but she makes no move for the remote on the nightstand. Sara’s too comfortable to move either.

"Sara?"

Sara hums in reply, her eyes closed. When Ava doesn’t answer her right away, she blinks and turns her head. She doesn’t expect to find Ava sporting such a shy expression.

"Have you ever...I mean..."

Sara waits with an intrigued smile for her girlfriend to find her words.

"Do you think about the lasso?" Ava finally blurts out.

Sara chuckles in surprise. Ava throws her the most random questions sometimes. "All the damn time." she admits, her smile turning slightly sheepish.

Ava exhales deeply. "Thank god it's not just me."

Sara’s smile grows wider. “So is that what you were thinking about while we were…” she trails off, letting her quirked brow say the rest.

Ava’s eyes widen so comically that Sara splutters a laugh. “Oh god no! It was only on my mind because before I could meet you at the gym, I had to sign off on a mission to the Old West to retrieve a pair of trolls who were wreaking havoc and I guess all that talk of cowboys reminded me of lassos…”

“I guess so.” Sara says with a teasing drawl. Ava flushes further with embarrassment and lightly whacks Sara with a pillow.

"It'll make date nights interesting, that's for sure." Sara smirks, grabbing the pillow and shoving it behind her head for extra comfort.

She glances at Ava, expecting her smile to be there, only to find it has slipped from her face. Sara pauses, wondering if Ava was beginning to have second thoughts about all this.

"You okay?"

Ava looks up and nods quickly, mustering a small smile. "Just...trying not to get my hopes too up, you know?"

Sara nods in understanding. It scares her how much she wants to do this. How much she wants it to work out. She tries not to think about how rarely she gets the things she wants this badly.

Ava shifts around so that she’s fully facing Sara. "Just promise me that whatever happens, we'll be okay?" Ava says, her eyes quietly pleading.

Sara’s mouth lifts up into a smile as she nods and holds out her pinky. "Pinky swear." she promises.

Ava matches her smile and happily links their pinkies together.

"Pinky swear."

—

It's not like they were avoiding doing it.

They still had every intention of going to see Diana.

Bags were packed, Parisian hotels were researched. (They figured that when Diana ultimately rejected them, they might as well bury their sorrows in expensive champagne and french pastries and a fancy hotel room for a night).

But things never go accordingly to plan for them, do they?

As it turns out that quiet timeline they'd all been enjoying was just the calm before the storm. Now, more than ever, fugitives were getting spit out across the timeline, almost faster than either the Legends or the Bureau can keep up with. Missions were nonstop, making it a terrible idea to be gone for any extended period of time.

In the back of her mind, Sara can't help wondering if all this chaos is the universe's way of warning them against this Paris trip. The thought admittedly shakes her confidence at times but deep down she knows that she needs to get these feelings off her chest regardless of what comes out of it.

Tonight Sara returns home to an empty apartment, exhausted in every sense. Ava is working late again so in her absence, Sara showers, eats, and slumps on the couch, perfectly content with falling asleep there if Ava doesn't show up anytime soon.

She'll be so happy when this surge of fugitives finally dies down. These days she can barely remember what uninterrupted sleep feels like.

Sara's just starting to doze when the doorbell rings.

She lifts her head up off the couch at the noise, frowning in confusion. Ava wouldn't be ringing the doorbell. She not only has a key but her time courier, neither of which she ever leaves the house without.

Figuring it was Gary or something, Sara grudgingly gets up and begins rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

She spares a glance over at the frosted glass wall next to the front door, expecting to see Gary's silhouette, only to find a much taller, feminine figure standing outside.

Sara stops short, her hand dropping from her face.

She knew that figure anywhere. It was a hard one to forget.

Sara cautiously steps forward, gradually closing the remaining distance between her and the door.

This couldn't be real. She couldn't be here. This had to be a dream. Or a stroke.

_Crap, did I die again?_

Sara stills in front of the door, panic paralyzing her.

_"Sara, I can hear you there."_

At the sound of her voice, Sara snaps out of it and rips open the door, her eyes wide with shock. 

"Diana."

Holy crap.

She _was_ here.

"Sara." Diana exhales, and her face forms a tentative smile.

"W-what are you doing here?" Sara stammers, trying to take her in all at once. Her gaze jumps all over the place, up, down and back again. Even if Diana looked exactly as she did in her employee badge photo, impeccably dressed with her hair pulled back in a neat ponytail, it was still slightly jarring to see her here in modern clothing.

What is she thinking? It was jarring to see Diana _period_.

"I came to see you and Ava." Diana explains.

Sara’s stare turns blank for a moment, her brain slow to process. A frown overtakes her face as she blinks, the words finally getting through. "Well that's...uncanny."

Diana's brow furrows in response. "What is?"

"Ava and I," Sara starts to reply, with a slight shake of her head, "We were planning on visiting you. We've just been so swamped with work..." She trails off, perplexed by Diana's skeptical glance.

“You were, truly?" she asks.

“Yeah." Sara nods.

But that only causes Diana's frown to deepen. "So Gary spoke to you then? Or…”

"Why would Gary—" Sara begins to interrupt, only to pause as the realization dawns on her, “Oh god, has he contacted you?"

Diana winces sympathetically as Sara’s expression grows even more horrified. “Gary had a sleepwalking mishap not too long ago and wound up in Paris.” she confirms with a reluctant nod. “He sought out my help.”

Sara turns away, incredulous and thoroughly embarrassed. Then comes to mind that night of book club and how she’d caught Gary in his pajamas whispering suspiciously with Zari and Charlie — and stupid her hadn’t even bothered to ask any questions.

“Of course he did.” Sara murmurs, shaking her head to herself.

He _would_ overstep like this.

“He assured me it was an innocent accident and I believe him.” Diana says, feeling the need to speak up on Gary’s behalf.

“Yeah, that’s usually how it starts with him.” Sara agrees.

The same could also be said for most of the legends, but that’s neither here nor there.

"Is this a bad time?" Diana glances down, taking in Sara's robe and fuzzy slippers. "Because if it is, I can come back—"

"What? No." Sara startles and quickly beckons Diana inside, shutting the door behind her. No way she was letting her leave so soon.

"Is Ava not here?" Diana realizes, after stepping into the quiet.

"Yeah, no she's still at work." Sara's gaze darts around as she leads Diana further into the apartment, unsure of where exactly to bring her. The couch? The dining table? The kitchen counter? Damn open floor plan.

Sara lightly taps her fist against her hand while in deliberation. "You…want a drink?" she asks suddenly, awkwardly swiveling back around. If Diana says yes, then Sara will have a clear task and destination and then she can go from there.

"No, thank you." Diana politely declines, causing Sara to wilt a little. "I was hoping to speak to the both of you but I suppose I will just have to tell you and have you relay my message."

"Oh. Is everything okay?" Now that Sara’s a little more focused, Diana's unease becomes apparent. Sara had assumed this was a personal visit but now it was just occurring to her that Diana might actually be here on some world threatening, hero business.

_God help me if I get dragged into another crossover._

"In a sense." Diana replies. "What I mean is no one is in immediate danger, the world is not ending." Diana smiles faintly at the obvious relief that crosses Sara's face. She couldn't even try to hide it. "I just believe I owe you an explanation for why I left things the way I did."

"Oh." Is all Sara can think to say. While she’s glad she isn’t going to have to fight any Big Bad or save the world tonight, the reality of this conversation happening right here, right now is daunting.

Diana seems to feel that way too, if the deep breath she takes before speaking is any indication. "First, I must preface that I am here simply because I want to share my truth, not because I expect anything more to come from this or because I wish to cause strain to your and Ava's relationship."

Sara tenses further with anticipation, but gives Diana a gentle nod, encouraging her to continue.

"My dear friend Etta passed away in 1959." Diana proceeds, quiet and solemn. "Her funeral was held in London about a week before we saw each other in California. She was not only one of my oldest friends but also my last living connection to Steve. Losing her was in a way like losing him all over again. This wound that I thought had healed had reopened. I was beside myself in grief."

"You hid it well around us." Sara can't help thinking out loud. Last they were together, Sara had been so wrapped up in her own enjoyment, any pain Diana might have been carrying with her hadn’t even registered.

God, her and Ava had asked so many questions about her past – talk about pouring salt into an open wound.

Sara feels her stomach begin to turn with guilt.

"There was no need to hide anything." Diana replies in earnest, catching sight of Sara’s grimace. "That day, in your company, my heart was filled with nothing but happiness."

That admission knocks Sara into a breathless kind of daze. But she quickly shakes her head of it, knowing better than to get swept up in such feelings so easily.

“But towards the end of our time together, you didn’t look quite so happy.” she can’t help but point out, causing Diana to bow her head in acknowledgement.

"I admit you and Ava caught me off guard." Diana lifts her head but her gaze doesn’t quite meet Sara’s. "I told myself that the reason I could not accept your gift, no matter how much I wanted to, was because future technology should not be kept in the past, but that was not my true concern." Her brow furrows as her voice begins to waver, "You see, right before Steve died, he'd given me his father's watch. He gave me time, and that moment with you and Ava, suddenly it was like I was reliving that moment again."

Sara feels her mouth open to respond, but she finds herself without the words again, so Diana just soldiers on, "Feelings that I had only ever associated with Steve, I now felt for you and Ava and all at once it was like history repeating itself on me and I wasn't ready to go through that again. I could not lose you and Ava like I lost him."

"So you decided said goodbye to us before we could say goodbye to you." Sara realizes, everything suddenly making sense.

Diana nods minutely. "I thought doing so on my terms was the right thing to do and that it would make it less painful but it did not. Many times I wanted to correct my mistake and explain to you two, especially when our present times began to align but I could never seem to bring myself to seek you both out." Diana sniffles and her hand comes up to dab at her eyes, the unshed tears in her eyes slowly beginning to give way. “You see in the years since we’ve last seen each other, my attempts at keeping friends have failed disastrously, never mind romantic partners…”

Her gaze dips with a small huff that sounds far too pained to be considered a laugh.

Sara swallows hard, trying and failing to get her bearings. With the way her head is reeling and her heart racing, she feels overwhelmed to the point where she feels like she’s starting to malfunction.

“So those feelings you said you had for us, Ava and I, they're not...I mean, are they? They’re not…I mean…" Sara shakes her head. Her brow pinches together, frustrated at her sudden inability to get out a single coherent thought.

But by some small miracle Diana is able to understand what she's getting at anyways. "You needn't worry." she assures, adamant in her tone, but so sad in the eyes. "I know you and Ava are devoted to each other, I don't expect my affections to be returned in that capacity. Like I said before, I'm not here for anything more. I am here merely to offer my sincerest apologizes."

Sara blinks suddenly, confused.

Wait, what? Did Diana honestly think that they didn't want her?

_She literally just said as much, Lance._

"Diana, hey." Sara reaches out before she can think twice on it, gently touching Diana's chin and guiding her gaze back to her. "Your affections are returned." Her mouth quirks up slightly at the way Diana just stares at her in complete and utter confusion.

"But Ava...?"

"Ava has got it just as bad for you as I have." Sara explains with a chuckle, her smile growing wider. She can't stand how adorably perplexed Diana looks. "We wanted to tell you but we weren't sure of how you'd react to both of us having feelings for you."

"On Themyscira courting more than one person is not uncommon." Diana replies, finally blinking away her confusion. "Though I myself have never experienced it, it's certainly not something I would ever shy away from should I meet the right..." Diana trails off, expression still guarded. "I never would have thought you and Ava..."

At Sara's eyebrow raise, Diana explains with some sheepishness, "Most mortals would not be as open-minded."

"Yeah," Sara nods, agreeing with her on that, "For most people it's monogamy or bust."

"But you and Ava are not most people." Diana says, her voice coming out with a half-statement, half-question kind of tone.

"No, we're not." Sara confirms, smiling more confidently now. She takes step forward, feeling more assured with letting her actions do the rest of the talking now that everything was out in the open and they were finally on the same page.

But as her head angles forward for a kiss, Diana pulls back.

Sara falters.

Okay. So apparently _not_ on the same page.

Her mouth immediately drops open to apologize.

"Diana, I'm—"

"Are you certain?" Diana interrupts, searching Sara's face for any trace of doubt. "I only ask because I will not kiss you if it hurts her. And vice versa."

Oh.

Sara exhales in relief.

Okay. Still on the same page after all. Thank God.

She nods at Diana, looking her firmly in the eyes. "If I thought for a second Ava wouldn't be okay with this, we would not be in this position and we would definitely be having an entirely different conversation."

Diana contemplates her words for another moment and Sara can't help but release a small exasperated sigh. Shaking her head, Sara takes initiative again and closes the gap between them. But this time, when Sara rises up to meet her, Diana doesn't move away. Her hands instead come to steady Sara at the waist while gently pulling her closer.

Sara's hands frame Diana's face as she guides their mouths together for the first time. A shiver of delight runs down her spine at first contact, Diana's lips softer and warmer than she could have ever dreamed of.

It takes all her willpower to pull away from them.

"Though she might be just a little bit jealous that I got to kiss you first." Sara murmurs, her mouth giving way to a crooked smile.

Diana laughs. Her face brightens in a way that makes her look years younger than the Diana who had initially arrived at Sara's doorstep, so tense and apprehensive. "She might argue that I am saving the best for last."

Sara playfully narrows her eyes. "If I didn't already know for a fact how out of this world her kisses are, I'd be offended by that comment." She lets her hands slide from Diana's shoulders but Diana catches one wrist before it can completely leave her.

Sara watches somewhat breathlessly as Diana holds up her arm and presses a delicate kiss to her inner wrist, all without taking her eyes off of Sara.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

Judging by the look in her eyes, Diana's not just talking about her little remark, but about everything. Sara gives her a watery smile and a shaky nod, the words catching in her throat. "Yeah, of course I can."

Diana starts to smile but then just as quickly it disappears and is replaced instead with a concerned frown. 

"What happened here?"

Sara turns her head, already with an inkling of what had Diana's attention, and sure enough, the sleeve of her robe had slid back to reveal the bandage on her right arm.

"Oh, you know, just a small work-related injury." Sara replies, purposefully vague.

Diana arches her eyebrow skeptically. "And what fugitive caused such an injury, may I ask?"

Sara's mouth twists into a grimace. "A Manticore." she reluctantly answers, knowing she wasn't getting out of this otherwise.

As Diana's eyes widen with alarm, her grip on Sara's wrist inadvertently tightens. "Sara, a Manticore's venom is poisonous. If you were stung—"

"No, no, no it didn't sting me." Sara quickly assures, Diana looking like she was two seconds away from blowing the roof off the apartment in order to get her medical attention. "It just kinda, you know, pawed at me." She gives a quick demonstration with her hand. "Not a big deal."

Diana continues to give her an incredulous stare. "You make it sound as though it was a mere kitten playing with you. Could Gideon not heal you?"

"She could have, I guess," Sara shrugs, earning herself another disbelieving glance from Diana that reminds her all too much of Ava whenever she comes home injured, "But I don't like wasting her resources for small stuff. Besides, it was gonna take too long and I just wanted to get home and shower."

"Sara..." Diana keeps shaking her head at her.

"It's a small scratch." Sara promises.

As small of a scratch as a mythical lion hybrid can leave, anyways.

But Diana doesn't look convinced in the slightest and, if she's anything like Ava, she won't be letting this go.

Sara caves to defeat with a heavy sigh. "I'll have Gideon take care of it tomorrow, okay?"

"You must be more careful, Sara."

Sara rolls her eyes and grumbles petulantly. "To be clear, this doesn't happen all the time."

Diana hums a disagreeing noise, her eyes alight with teasing. "It certainly seems that way. That mission in Normandy had also resulted in your injury."

Sara pouts at the reminder. "Yeah, but the one in Santa Monica didn't."

Which was honestly surprising considering all that acid that damn hydra had been spewing all over the place.

"Maybe not, but you did sunburn your sweet face." Diana points out, grinning as she lightly taps Sara's freckled nose. "That I remember distinctly."

Sara's face briefly scrunches up. "Yeah, I guess I was pretty apple-cheeked afterward." she concedes, a little embarrassed.

"Mmm. You certainly looked good enough to eat." Diana murmurs with a not-so-innocent glint to her eyes.

Sara inhales sharply, a delightful shiver running down her spine. She shakes her head, willing herself not to give into the intense urge she suddenly has to grab Diana by her jacket and just kiss her stupid. “Careful, princess." Sara warns, her lips slowly giving way to a smirk. "Say something like that again and I'll definitely pounce on you."

Diana steps closer, one very attractive eyebrow raised. Her hands return to Sara's waist, easily guiding Sara back into her arms. "An injured _καναρίνι_ should not pounce."

Sara chuckles. She doesn't know Greek but the word sounds awfully close to _canary_ so she'll assume that's what it is. "Hey, this canary's not that injured. She can handle whatever physical activity you wanna throw at her." To drive her point home, she pushes herself up onto her toes, steadying herself against Diana's shoulders, and teases a kiss to Diana's jawline (the only place she can properly reach even with the boost).

"Is that right?" Diana murmurs, a grin spreading across her face as she bends to kiss Sara sweetly on the mouth.

Sara closes her eyes, her smile triumphant against Diana's lips. Her hands move to cup Diana's face, partly to keep Diana from going anywhere, but mainly because she likes feeling as much as her as she can. After dreaming about this so many times, she needed to be certain that this was actually happening and not just in her head.

One kiss quickly turns into another, and before long Sara's patience, or lack thereof, starts to get the better of her. Not that she doesn't love Diana's feel or taste, but her kisses are frustratingly restrained and Sara's never been good with slow and gentle anything — let alone kisses.

Sara parts her mouth a little and sucks Diana's bottom lip between her own, trying to ignite some of that Amazon fire she knows is lurking beneath all those manners and composure but her plan backfires. The only thing she succeeds in doing is chasing Diana away.

Diana straightens up to her full height, well out of Sara's reach, leaving Sara to curse her attraction to annoyingly tall girls.

"You are very cute when you are frustrated." Diana comments, earning herself a glare and light huff from Sara.

"You could be a little more cooperative." Sara grumbles. She suddenly grips Diana’s shoulders for leverage, then jumps up and latches onto her koala style. She tosses her head back and gives Diana a satisfied smile. "There, much better."

"Yes, much better." Diana agrees, chuckling.

Before Sara can comment on how weird it is to be eye to eye with each other, Diana dips her head into Sara's neck and begins nuzzling and peppering kisses there. Sara smiles and laughs and lets her eyes flutter close in content. Gradually Diana finds her way back to Sara. When that happens, Sara lightly grabs her chin to regain some control and starts kissing all over every inch of Diana’s beautiful face, paying extra special attention to those wonderful goddess lips.

Sara can't stop smiling.

It's different from kissing Ava, but it feels just as good, just as right.

Sara's eyes snap open at the reminder of Ava.

"Holy crap, Ava!"

Sara abruptly pulls back and stares at Diana in horror.

"Shall we go to her?” Diana asks with a laugh, quickly setting Sara back down onto her feet. “Do you think she would mind the interruption?"

Sara pictures Ava hunched over her desk, alone in her office with only a pile of paperwork for company, and her heart aches to bring her home.

"I think she'd mind it more if we didn't stop by." Sara scoffs, feeling her smile grow impossibly wide with excitement. She turns over her shoulder, then hurries to the outlet where her time courier is charging.

Ava was totally gonna lose her shit.

"Sara, wait."

Sara moves to activate a portal, but stops at Diana's insistence. She looks up to find Diana's head turned away, a frown across her face.

Sara's body instantly straightens. She doesn't hear anything but she knows what that look means — trouble.

"You want backup?"

Diana shakes her head, exhaling deeply. Sara can feel her disappointment. Her attention turns back to Sara. "It's nothing I can't handle on my own, my love." She steps forward, hand slipping behind Sara's neck, and bestows a parting kiss to her forehead. "You go to Ava."

Sara reaches back and closes her hand over hers, squeezing it in return. "You be safe."

Diana's hand slides from her neck, involuntarily making Sara shiver.

"I do not think I will be long."

Sara follows her toward the patio. She watches from behind as Diana frees her hair from her ponytail and shakes out her curls. It makes Sara wonder if she had on the armor underneath her clothes or if they were stashed somewhere. She tries to think back to if she'd felt the armor while they were kissing but she honestly hadn't been paying enough attention.

Diana pushes the sliding door open and steps outside.

"You'll come back, right?"

The words come tumbling out of Sara's mouth before her brain can think to stop it. Diana stops. Sara immediately hates how insecure it makes her sound. But Diana leaving gives her unpleasant sense of déjà vu and they still had so much to figure out.

Sara doesn't quite meet Diana’s gaze at first, knowing she'd find sympathy there, but is kind of left with no other option to when Diana decides to close the distance between them.

She takes Sara's face in her hands, her touch as gentle and reverent as her smile, and declares, "I will always come back to you, Sara Lance," before bending down and passionately kissing away whatever doubts Sara had left.

If Sara hadn't already melted at Diana's words, that kiss alone definitely would have done the job.

"I'm gonna hold you to that, you know." Sara breathlessly replies, her body actually swaying from the power of that kiss.

Diana looks down and gives her a brilliant smile. "We Amazons never make a promise we cannot keep."

And with that, she drops one last kiss to Sara's cheek, backs away and leaps up into the sky.

Sara tries to follow her trajectory but she's so fast, she just disappears into thin air.

Sara's gaze lingers for a moment, her heart hammering at this whirlwind of a night and in anticipation of all that had yet to come. Then she remembers Ava, and her heart beats even harder, eager to tell her everything.

Sara's never summoned a portal faster in her life.

—

Ava can't stop pacing.

It's been hours since Sara said Diana left and there was still no sight of her.

_What if Diana decided not to come back?_

_What if she just wants to be with Sara?_

_What if she got shanghaied into doing a crossover?_

Ava balks at all of these scenarios, unsure of which one was worst.

If Sara were here she'd be able to put Ava’s mind at ease. She was good at that. But she was fast asleep upstairs, her long day having caught up with her.

The plan had originally been for both of them to wait up for Diana but Sara kept nodding off on the couch and Ava didn't have the heart to make her stay up with her, so she'd scooped up Sara and tucked her into bed, kissing her with the promise that she'd wake her up when Diana returned.

Which leaves Ava alone to wait in the living room with only her phone for company. She keeps turning it over in her hands, checking the time every once and a while just to give herself something to do. Normally she’d be stress cleaning the apartment by now, but because it’s so late and Sara’s such a light sleeper, Ava doesn’t want to risk disturbing her.

Ava plops herself down on the couch, suddenly weary from all her pacing, and drops her face into her hands.

What if she can't do this?

What if she only thinks she can share Sara and then it turns out she can't?

Sara would totally resent her forever if she backed out now. And so would Diana, probably.

Oh God, she wouldn't be able to handle both of them hating her at all.

Ava curls her body over her knees and forces herself to take deep breaths, determined to block out the swarm of unanswered questions and anxiety-inducing scenarios swirling around in her brain.

_Tap, tap._

Ava opens her eyes and stares at the floor for a moment. She hesitates to move, debating whether she was just hearing things. Then the sound comes again.

_Tap, tap._

Ava straightens up and sweeps the hair out of her face. She turns around, not sure what to expect, then startles at the sight of Diana standing outside on her patio, smiling and waving at her from behind the glass

Ava shakes away her disbelief, a wide smile quickly overtaking her face, and jogs over to Diana, hurrying to unlock and open the sliding glass door.

Her body tenses against the cold night air that rushes in, but that doesn't stop her from pushing the door wide open.

"Ava," Diana breathes, her shoulders heaving with apology, "I am so sorry to have kept you and Sara waiting for so long. The situation was more complex than I anticipated—"

Ava launches herself into Diana's unsuspecting arms, her head shaking minutely. She honestly doesn't care what kept her, all that matters was that she was actually here.

Ava hated to admit it, but she had initially doubted Sara when she told her everything, thinking her girlfriend might've taken one too many hits during her last mission or crossed paths with some kind of hallucination causing magical creature. She'd just appeared in Ava's office in such a state that was unlike anything Ava's ever seen before, all giddy and rambling and excited, it was hard not to question her sanity.

Diana doesn’t budge an inch when Ava throws her weight at her, simply wraps her arms around Ava and holds her high up off the ground.

Ava squeezes her tightly in return, eyes clenched shut as her chin digs into Diana's shoulder.

Oh good, she's real. Feels real, smells real, _is_ real.

Diana inhales deeply into Ava's neck, breathing her in and Ava shivers again, though this time it's definitely not because of the wind.

Diana must feel it because next thing Ava knows, she's stepping forward, carrying Ava back into the apartment, and closing the door behind them.

“I take it,” Ava can hear the amusement in Diana’s voice as she sets Ava back down on her feet, keeping her hands on Ava’s waist. “Sara has told you everything?"

Ava looks up at her and nods, breathing out a small laugh as her own hands slide down from around Diana's neck to rest on her shoulders.

"Yes, you goober."

"Goober?" Diana angles her head, a curious smile playing across her lips. "Why am I a goober?"

Ava can't help her giggle. The word is funny sounding enough on its own but Diana's accent sure doesn't help it.

"I'm just teasing you." Ava explains with some embarrassment. She's so used to doing it with Sara, it kind of just slipped out. "It's my way of being affectionate."

"You mortals and your strange terms of endearment." Diana murmurs, shaking her head with a fond smile. "But I suppose there are worse things to be called than a rodent..."

Ava pulls back and gives her a quizzical stare. "Rodent?"

"Yes." Diana nods, returning her strange look. "Are goobers not those furry little rodents that burrow underground?"

Ava's head dips briefly with stifled laughter. She looks up and gently shakes her head at her. "Oh, honey, those are gophers. Not goobers. I wouldn't call you something like that."

Diana's smile returns. "I am glad." She brings Ava closer and rests her forehead against hers. Ava wets her lips in anticipation as Diana's hand moves to her cheek, her thumb affectionately grazing her skin. "I have missed you, Ava Sharpe."

Ava inhales sharply. She doesn't anticipate such a declaration to affect her so strongly, emotions overwhelming her to the point that her eyes well up.

"I've missed you too." Ava whispers, her bottom lip starting to quiver.

"Oh my darling, I'm so sorry." Diana sighs, and her hand slides down to cradle Ava's neck, slowly but surely pulling her into her.

Ava sinks into her embrace with a sigh, eyes fluttering closed. All her pent-up anxiety from earlier just melts from her body as Diana kisses her, slow and deep.

Her own hand comes up to Diana's face, gently cupping her cheek. Diana leans into her touch, a contented hum escaping her at the soft, sweet kiss Ava gifts her in return.

Ava pulls back, slightly dazed. She might just be imagining things but she swears she can taste Sara on Diana's lips.

"You must bear with me," Diana murmurs, her thumb caressing Ava's pulse point. "I have never done this before, so I don't know how good at this I will be." Whether Diana's talking about being in a relationship in general, or being in a relationship with two other people, Ava doesn't know, but her gut tells her it's a little of both.

"I can't imagine you being bad at anything you set your mind to."

Diana chuckles. "You'd be surprised." 

Ava half smiles. Her hand slides down over Diana's chest, feeling for her heartbeat. Even through the armor, she can feel it pounding. It was comforting to know she had the same effect that Diana did on her. It was also a reassurance that this moment wasn't just her daydreaming in her office again, that this all was definitely real.

But with that confirmation also comes the return of her anxiety. Because, again, this was real and happening and while that was wonderful, it was also completely nerve-wracking.

She didn't know the first thing about dating an immortal princess!

“You sure you wanna do this?"

Ava doesn't mean it to sound so blunt, but she doesn't know how else to bring it up. She has to make sure. She wouldn't be able to bear not knowing for certain.

Diana tilts her head, her brow furrowing at Ava's question. "Sara and I, we're kind of a handful. A reformed assassin and a clone..." Ava trails off, head shaking. "What I mean to say is it's not too late to get out, if you want. We won't hold it against you."

She's not trying to talk her out of this — Sara would probably kill her otherwise. She just wants to make absolute sure this is what Diana truly wants and this isn't just her trying to make them happy.

Diana gently brings her chin up to meet her gaze. Her hand closes over Ava's.

"You underestimate the depth of my feelings if you think you can scare me away so easily, Ava Sharpe.” Diana tells her with an adamant tone. “You and Sara left a mark on my heart sixty years ago where it has since remained. The only way I would ever walk away from you now is if you truly wished it of me."

Ava relaxes as those words sink in and settle. Her heart fills with such love and warmth that it leaves no room for insecurity.

"Speaking of Sara," Diana says, sparing a glance up to the second floor, "What exactly did you do in my absence to tire her out so greatly, hmm?" Diana's gaze drops back to Ava, her eyes alight with teasing.

Ava chuckles and quickly shake of her head. Her mouth opens to defend herself but instead of giving her the truth, Ava decides at the last second to play along with her instead.

"Well, I could tell you, but I think I'd rather show you."

Diana quirks her brow. "Oh, really?"

Ava nods, and with a surge of confidence, she rises up, clasping both hands on either side of Diana's neck and pulling her in for a searing kiss.

Diana's lips part in surprise, but she recovers quickly, burying a hand in Ava's hair and angling her head back. Ava moans embarrassingly loud.

Ava eagerly pushes back into her, drawing Diana's lower lip between her teeth and sucking hard before letting go, then pressing in for more. One time she gets bold and decides to lick into her mouth. Diana's hands fly to her waist in the same instance, gripping her tight. Not enough to cause discomfort but enough to signal to her that Diana definitely likes what she's doing.

Ava can't help the stupidly pleased smile she feels take over her face. She could get used to having this effect on Diana.

Her smile, however, is short-lived, faltering when Diana decides to give her a taste of her own medicine and pries her mouth open with her tongue.

Ava's knees buckle.

Now Diana's the one grinning into her mouth.

Ava shakes her head, trying to regain some control and kiss away that cheshire cat smile but Diana's not having it. She continues with her sloppy, teasing kisses until Ava gives in and finally yields to her. Not that Ava has any complaints.

After all, if Diana wants to shower her with affection, who is she to deny her?

"Okay, so not fair!"

Ava jumps back, flushed and panting. Her head turns to find a bed-headed Sara walking down the last of the stairs in her robe and fuzzy slippers, looking adorably indignant. "You didn't slip me tongue when we first kissed."

Ava blinks at her, for a moment confused, before realizing she was talking to Diana.

"A thousand apologies, Sara." Diana utters breathlessly, looking at her in earnest. "I was trying to be courteous."

"Yeah, well you can keep your courtesy." Sara mumbles, sliding in between them and rising up on her tippy toes, demanding a kiss from Diana which she happily obliges.

Ava feels a flutter in the pit of her stomach from watching them but the sensation is far from unpleasant.

Sara pulls back from Diana, feeling Ava's eyes on them, and turns her attention toward her. "You alright, Ava?" she checks.

Ava nods wordlessly for a moment, unable to verbalize. Her brain was still boggled from kissing Diana and now watching Sara do the same...She wasn’t concerned or jealous, if anything she was just embarrassed from having Sara witness her and Diana's passionate little display. She hadn't meant to get so carried away like that.

"Yeah, never better." Ava promises, her smile slowly spreading wider.

Sara matches her smile, relaxing at her confirmation.

"It is late." Diana declares softly, glancing back at the window and sighing with reluctance, "I should leave you two to your rest. You must have work in the morning, Ava."

Ava’s attention snaps away from Sara to focus on Diana. "But you just got here." she protests, her eyes going wide.

"I have a hotel here in the city." Diana assures, reaching out with her free hand and cupping Ava's cheek to soothe her distress. "I will not be far, I promise."

"It's late, like you said." Sara frowns, just as reluctant to let Diana go. "You should just stay."

"Please?" Ava flashes what she hopes is a convincing enough smile.

"Only if you are certain." Diana drawls, her gaze shifting uncertainly between them, searching for any indications of doubt.

"Positive." Sara and Ava both respond, their heads shaking insistently.

"As you both wish," Diana nods, regarding them with amusement, "but I will take the couch."

"Uh, no." Sara and Ava say again at the same time. They each grab a hold of Diana, preventing her from getting anywhere closer to the couch. "Not happening."

Diana allows herself to be led over to the stairs, her smile turning smug as she raises a teasing eyebrow. "This courtship has only just begun and already you desire me in your bed?"

"Hey, don't get any ideas." Ava chides, fighting a blush. "It's just to sleep."

"For now." Sara adds under her breath, her smirk barely concealed.

"If you say so." Diana scoops them both up without warning, setting each of them on her hip, and then proceeds to carry them up the stairs as if they were toddlers. Ava feels her jaw slacken. She's never been picked up so easily in her life. Over Diana's shoulders, Ava and Sara exchange similarly affected glances and fist bump to their good fortune.

After all who doesn't want a girlfriend that can just carry them around oh so effortlessly?

Ava almost wishes she lived in an apartment with more stairs, just so she could enjoy the ride for a little longer.

With Sara's direction, Diana walks them into the bedroom and over to the bed. She leans down and carefully sits them down on the edge of it, stealing a quick kiss to both their cheeks before rising back to her full height.

Ava stands with her. As much as she'd like to just crawl into bed, she had hostess duties to fulfill.

"Okay, first thing's first," she begins, clapping her hands together and pointing at Diana, "Diana, you obviously need something to sleep in."

"I am perfectly fine sleeping in my—"

"You are not sleeping in your armor." Ava scoffs, promptly walking past her to reach her and Sara's shared dresser. She begins rummaging through her own drawer, figuring her clothes would be a closer fit, only to realize they were probably just as unlikely to fit Diana's broader frame.

Maybe she should just courier to the Waverider and have Gideon fabricate Diana some clothes instead.

"Try the Beebo shirt." Sara suggests from the bed, noting Ava's deeply furrowed brow.

Ava snaps her fingers in approval, nodding and pointing back at Sara. What would she do without her girlfriend's brilliance?

The oversized Beebo shirt Sara had gotten her as a gag gift would definitely be a better fit for Diana.

"Beebo?" Diana questions curiously.

"Yeah," Sara nods, "I don't know if you were living in the States at the time but during the early 90's Beebo was an insanely popular children's toy."

"Aha!" Ava straightens up in triumph, finding the shirt at the bottom of her drawer. She spins around and proudly shows off the front to Diana.

Diana reaches out, taking the shirt from her. "As luck would have it, I was not.” she murmurs, thumbing the soft fabric and smiling at the sweet Beebo caricature. “But he seems vaguely familiar. Wait, is this the same character that Gary has pajamas of?”

Ava silently groans at that little reminder. She was definitely going to have a talk with Gary next time she saw him.

“He’s one and the same.” Sara confirms, chuckling at Ava’s expression.

Catching Diana heading toward the adjoining bathroom out of the corner of her eye, Ava does a double take, realizing she’d completely forgotten something important.

“Wait!”

Ava quickly grabs a pair of shorts out of her drawer and waves them at her.

Diana hangs back in the doorway, looking endlessly amused.

"Ah, yes, we wouldn't want to forget those now, would we?" Diana takes the offered shorts with a playful quirk of her brow, and Ava flushes with embarrassment all over again.

"I, uh, toiletries are the sink." she stammers, pointing needlessly to the bathroom that Diana already knows the location of.

Diana simply nods, still smiling at Ava, and closes the door behind her.

Ava turns around and frowns when she realizes Sara's shaking her head at her.

"You just _had_ to give her the shorts."

"What?" Ava innocently shrugs. "She should be comfortable."

Sara just continues to shake her head.

Ava walks over to their bed, sees the state of it, and gestures for Sara to move. "Get up for me, babe? I want to make the bed real quick."

She knows it's pretty much redundant, seeing as how they're going to tuck themselves into bed in a few minutes, but she has a thing about getting into an unmade bed and she knows she won't be able to relax until she's sufficiently smoothed out the sheets and bedspread beforehand.

Sara sighs, very well knowing this, and gets up to help her.

They fix the bed in relative silence until Sara decides to speak up.

"Does this feel real to you?"

Ava glances up from smoothing down her side of the bed and shakes her head, a small laugh escaping her. "Not in the slightest."

"I feel like I'm dreaming." Sara continues, fluffing up a pillow and then tossing it back in place. "If Diana comes back wearing nothing at all, then I'll know for sure I'm definitely still dreaming."

"Hey, watch what you say," Ava scolds quietly, nodding her head to the side, "She's got super-hearing, remember?"

"I think she'll be flattered to know she's a part of my dreams." Sara shrugs out of her robe and tosses it back over the chair behind her, then slips in between the sheets.

Ava does the same, though she doesn’t crawl into bed just yet. "I just don't want her thinking our only interest is in her body." she murmurs.

"Rest assured, my sweet, I do not believe that in the slightest."

Ava startles and turns around to find Diana standing there in her borrowed sleepwear. Ava gulps and tries desperately not to ogle Diana's very long, very bare legs. The shorts Ava had lent her were completely hidden under her _Beebo loves you!_ t-shirt.

That is if Diana was even wearing them.

_Oh boy._

Ava quickly looks away, really wishing she hadn't thought to question that.

"Are you two certain you wouldn't rather I sleep downstairs?" Diana asks, hesitating to approach the bed any further.

Sara props her head up with her hand. "Why, Diana, are you saying you don't want to sleep with us?" she teases in a low and sultry tone.

A tone that, even when not directed at her, Ava feels way too affected by.

Diana shakes her head at Sara's mischievous smile. "Behave yourself, Sara Lance." she warns, teasing her with an arched eyebrow as she walks over to the bed.

"It's _Captain_." Sara corrects with a defiant huff.

Diana pulls back the bedspread with a flourish and presses her knee into the bed in order to lean over Sara. "Then behave yourself, _Captain_."

Sara merely chuckles and accepts the kiss that Diana drops to her lips.

From this angle, Ava is clearly able to see that Diana is in fact wearing her shorts.

_Thank God._

As soon as Diana is settled, Sara twists to the side to rest her head against her chest, and drape an arm across her torso and a leg around her thigh.

Ava smiles wryly at the sight. "If you couldn't already tell, Diana, Sara likes to cuddle."

Sara's only response is a long, contented sigh.

"Hers is a welcomed embrace." Diana replies, her arms spreading out across the bed so Sara can snuggle even closer. Her head turns toward Ava and with her free hand, Diana beckons her, "As is yours."

Ava smiles, her heart fluttering, and turns off the lights on her way into bed. Before she can get too comfortable, though, she has to double-check something.

"You sure you won't get too hot?"

"Very sure." Diana sighs.

With that confirmation, Ava relaxes and proceeds to tuck herself into Diana's free side.

"But in the off chance that I do, I can always remove my clothing. It will be no problem."

Diana drops a kiss to both their heads, leaving Sara and Ava with quite the mental image in their heads.

"Pleasant dreams, dear ones."

_Pleasant dreams indeed._

—

Ava's in the middle of a very good, much needed sleep when her stupid alarm completely ruins it.

But Ava is unwilling to get up just yet, so her face remains pressed into her pillow as she reaches for the phone she knows is somewhere within reach. Once she finds it, she shuts off the alarm and drops it back onto the nightstand.

Usually her body's internal clock has her up before the alarm, saving herself from hearing that annoying jingle first thing in the morning, but not today.

Of course not today.

Why, why couldn't it be the weekend?

Ava rolls onto her back with a long-suffering sigh. Her eyes squint open, then gradually relax as they adjust to the light. When Ava looks off to the side, she's glad to find Sara and Diana at least still sleeping peacefully, especially poor Sara who hasn't gotten an uninterrupted sleep in what feels like forever thanks to all the fugitive alerts.

Ava carefully pulls back the covers, mindful of the lack of space between them. A bigger bed will definitely be needed, she thinks. Ava's just glad she'd been sleeping on the edge, otherwise she would've needed to devise some very strategic maneuvers to free herself from the mess of intertwined limbs going on next to her and she so does not have the brain power for that right now.

When Diana begins to stir beside her, Ava stops and wills the Amazon to stay asleep, only to then feel a strong arm wrap around her and pull her close.

There's a slur of speech murmured into her neck that Ava can only assume is the Greek equivalent of _Where are you going? Come back to bed._ But lucky for her, Diana doesn't put up a fight. She falls back asleep almost instantly, arm going slack around Ava, making it easy for Ava to ease herself out from under her.

Ava gets up and shuffles over to the closet to gather her work clothes, then takes them into the bathroom with her so Sara and Diana remain undisturbed.

While the shower helps to wake her body up, it does nothing to improve her mood. Her thoughts are nothing more than a repetitive cycle of petulant "I don't want to go to work"s and "stupid job".

Needless to say, Ava drags her feet through every stage of getting ready.

Ava emerges from the bathroom about an hour later, her eyes downcast as she fiddles with the cuffs on her sleeves. She glances up, fully expecting Sara and Diana to still be asleep, only to find that that was not the case. That not only have they woken up but were now indulging in some early morning cuddling, soft kisses and all.

It's kind of the last thing Ava wants to see right now.

How in the hell is she supposed to just leave for work now when _that's_ going on in her bed?

"Guys," Ava's voice borders on a whine as she hovers near the edge of the bed, "You are not making this easy."

"Sorry, baby," Sara sighs, stretching out like a lazy cat after Diana rolls off of her. Meanwhile Diana tips her head in Ava's direction and beckons her closer with a squinty sleep laden smile and crooked finger.

"Come here, my love."

Ava complies without hesitation. She climbs back onto the bed and plops herself down on top of Diana and buries her face into the crook of her neck.

"I don't wanna go to work." Ava grumbles, her voice mostly muffled.

"Then don't." Sara shifts onto her side and props her sleepy head up with her hand. "You know you have like a bazillion sick days you haven't touched."

"I can't.” Ava pouts. “I'm the boss."

"Even bosses gets sick." Sara reminds, and her free hand comes up to rub along Ava's back.

"But I don't get sick." Ava points out.

_Stupid clone genetics._

"Yeah, but they don't know that." Sara returns with an easy laugh.

"We will be here when you return, my love." Diana reassures. Ava feels her hand smooth down her hair before pressing a kiss to her head. "We are not going anywhere."

"I know..." Ava inches down a little and rests her cheek against Diana's chest, sighing. Diana was still super warm from sleep and Ava just wanted to wrap herself up in her.

"C'mon, babe." Sara implores with a gentle smile, watching as Ava's eyes grow heavy, "You can play hooky for one day."

"I shouldn't." Ava protests half-heartedly. She really shouldn't, not with the way the timeline has been lately. As it is it's a miracle Sara hasn't been called away by Gideon already for a new mission.

"You stayed late last night to get ahead on your work for today." Sara reminds.

"But I left before I could finish because you said Diana showed up." Ava mutters, and oh god, now she can’t get that image of unfinished paperwork out of her head.

Mustering up all the self-control she has, Ava removes herself from Diana's arms. As much as she wanted to stay home, she was Director. She was needed at the Bureau.

Ava stands with resignation and begins smoothing out her shirt.

"Diana, make her stay." Sara groans.

"Now, Sara, if Ava wishes to go to work then we should not stop her, even if we preferred it very much if she returned to bed...” Diana turns her head, giving Ava what can only be described as ‘puppy eyes’.

Ava falters. Crap. She couldn’t resist a face like that even if she wanted to.

“You should just use that lasso of yours to get her to stay.” Sara suggests to Diana, though her knowing smile is directed solely at Ava, “She’d like that.”

Ava’s mouth drops open while the rest of her stares incredulously at her traitor girlfriend.

"Would she now?"

Diana's intrigued tone sends a delightful shiver down Ava's spine. Even stronger than the one she got when Sara mentioned that damn lasso.

Not that Ava planned on making that known. She scoffs at the insinuation, and crosses her arms, readying herself to deny, deny, deny but the sight of Diana lying there with her head propped up, so casually sexy with her raised brow and equally seductive smile, just turns Ava into a babbling mess.

"What? Yes...No...I don’t even…Sara likes it too!" Ava points at her, childishly trying to divert Diana's attention from her flushed face.

But Sara just smiles and shrugs at her like, _yeah, and?_

"That is good to know." Diana's bemused gaze remains fixed on Ava as she gets to her feet in one fluid motion. "Anything else of mine you like?"

Ava's eyes drift down traitorously but snap back up in the same instance.

"I could think of a couple things." Sara smirks, and Ava just shakes her head as Sara’s gaze blatantly lingers on Diana's backside.

"Oh boy. I'm going to be late." Ava declares suddenly, feeling her heart palpations nearing dangerous territory. She turns on her heel and walks over to the closet, grabbing her blazer off the hanger and quickly shrugging it on.

If she doesn't get out of here soon, she's afraid she won't get out of here at all.

"You have plenty of time." Sara argues. "All you have to do is portal there."

Ava flips out her hair from underneath her collar and moves to stand in front of their mirror. "You know very well that the Bureau doesn't approve of using time couriers for personal use outside of an emergency." It's a rule she's been guilty of not always following but with Hank Heywood watching her every move these days, she doesn't want to take any chances. The Bureau needs all the funding it can get.

Ava catches Sara's eye roll in the mirror reflection.

"Babe, you're the Director. You literally make the rules."

"I enforce the rules." Ava corrects.

Diana quietly comes up behind her and Ava watches curiously through the mirror as her arms slip around her waist, bringing Ava's back to her front. "I highly doubt a leader so capable as yourself has not already extensively prepared her agents to handle any and every type of situation, including that of your absence." Diana murmurs, sweeping Ava's hair to one side before descending on her exposed neck, her lips pressing against Ava's skin. "I'm sure they can manage without you for a day."

Ava's eyes flutter closed at the sensation. "I don't know..." Despite her words, she feels herself offering up more of her neck, encouraging Diana to keep with the kisses.

"At least allow me to sate your hunger before you go."

Ava feels her eyes double in size. It must be funny as hell because it gets a laugh out of Sara.

"Easy there, babe." Sara pushes herself off of the bed and walks over to them. "She's just talking about breakfast."

Ava turns around in Diana's arms, spluttering nervously, "I totally knew that."

"And what would my little lovebirds like for breakfast?" Diana inquires, looking between them two.

"Well, Ava has a mighty soft spot for french toast." Sara says first. "And I definitely wouldn't say no to french toast either."

Ava's shoulders drop at the mention of delicious french toast while her eyes cast Sara an incredulous glance. "You know I need to start my day with something somewhat healthy before going into work." If not, she gets sluggish and short-tempered and neither are a pretty sight. It's why she reserves rich foods like pancakes and french toast for weekends.

"So what I'm hearing is yet another reason to not go into work today."

Ava scowls at her, but Sara's smile just grows, cause she knows Ava like the back of her hand and can totally tell her already shaky resolve is crumbling like a cookie made with too much flour.

Which it definitely is, because Ava just wants a lazy day at home with her girlfriends for fuck's sake—

Ava rolls her eyes, annoyed by her own whining, and throws her hands up in surrender. "Okay, fine, you win!"

"That's my girl." Sara happily rises up and kisses Ava soundly on the lips before disappearing into the bathroom.

While she's doing that, Ava grabs her phone off the nightstand. She can’t start celebrating just yet. "Hey, Maureen, this is Director Sharpe, I'm just letting you know that I won't be coming in today. Yeah, I got, uh, food poisoning." She feels utterly ridiculous straining her voice to make it sound like she's in pain, but at the same time she also feels obligated to make her lie sound somewhat convincing.

Out of her peripheral Ava notices Diana walking over to her, but she doesn't think much of it when Diana stops directly in front of her, head tilted expectantly. When Diana moves closer, Ava instinctively takes a step back, assuming she was in her way somehow.

With Maureen chatting away in her ear, offering advice and naming off home remedies for Ava's nonexistent ailment, Ava doesn't even realize she's slowly being guided back to the bed until the backs of her knees hit the edge, forcing her into a sitting position.

Ava lifts her head to question Diana's antics but all thoughts are promptly stalled when Diana's knee nudges her legs apart and starts pressing into the mattress. All at once Ava understands and she quickly begins scooting herself up the bed, with Diana following her lead, crawling after her until Ava's head reaches the pillows.

Diana proceeds to cover Ava's body with her own, slotting her lower half between Ava's legs while keeping her upper half propped up.

By this point Ava is no longer on the phone but she has no memory of hanging up, let alone getting rid of it. For all she knows Diana had tossed it aside for her.

"It just occurred to me that I did not give you a proper good morning kiss as I did Sara." Diana finally explains. "How rude of me."

Ava chuckles nervously. Oh great, the heart palpitations are back. "Well, better late than never."

"Yes, I suppose so." Diana murmurs, a slow smile spreading across her face as she leans down.

Ava's eyes flutter closed when Diana's soft mouth slides slowly and sweetly between hers.

Diana pulls away, and Ava sighs. From that one kiss alone she feels considerably more relaxed. In fact she's pretty sure her smile has turned downright goofy.

Her eyes half open at the feeling of Diana affectionately nuzzling her nose. "Good morning, Ava."

"Good morning, Diana." Ava murmurs, happily nuzzling back.

Diana beams and Ava chuckles, feeling silly and breathless and way overdressed, but oh so content. Now if only Sara would hurry up and finish brushing her teeth, then the moment would be absolutely perfect.

Diana dips her head back down. This time Ava lifts up to meet her. Diana kisses her over and over again, and little by little her hunger starts to make itself more known. Ava relishes in the fact and swipes her tongue across her bottom lip, which results in Diana pressing her back into the pillows and kissing her so deeply, Ava's pretty sure she blacks out for a second there.

Yowza.

Diana leans her forehead against Ava's, allowing her a moment to catch her breath. And while Ava appreciates the gesture, she'd rather keep on kissing.

She says as much to Diana, who doesn't need to be told twice.

Emboldened by Diana's passion, Ava slides her hands down Diana's back and pushes them under her t-shirt.

Diana's sharp intake of breath when Ava makes contact with her bare skin has Ava's eyes snapping open in concern. Her body stills for a moment. She nearly takes her hands away out of doubt but then Diana and starts kissing her again with renewed vigor, nipping and tugging on her bottom lip, and oh, okay. Message received. Touching is good. Very good.

So Ava lets her hands wander while they kiss, up and down Diana's back, along her sides, fingernails lightly scratching. Diana responds with the most encouraging little noises and Ava dares to venture around front to feel those very strong stomach muscles for herself and see what kind of noise _that_ will get her.

But apparently that's taking things a little too far. Diana abruptly breaks their kiss, forcing Ava's eyes open again.

Ava watches Diana glance down at her current hand placement, then glance back up to quirk an eyebrow at her.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Director Sharpe?"

"What? No..." Ava's sudden embarrassment has her momentarily forgetting that she hadn't even been the one to start this. "I'm just, you know, admiring." Ava gives Diana's stomach an awkward little pat before taking her hands out from under Diana's shirt and smoothing the fabric back down. "And, I mean, if anything it should be me asking you that that, considering..." Ava indicates their current positions. "I'm just saying, you pounced on me."

Diana shakes her head at her, smile brightening, chuckle escaping her. "You are too cute." She leans down and gives Ava a lip smacking kiss that makes Ava giggle. Diana then continues with those smacking kisses all across her cheek and down to her neck.

Ava laughs and squirms beneath her because now Diana's hands have started wandering. Tickling, more accurately.

Ava grabs Diana's face, bringing her back up so that kissable mouth stays right where she wants it. And Diana obliges her, deeply kissing her lips before abruptly pulling away with a firm shake of her head.

Ava blinks in confusion, her head automatically lifting up off the pillows as Diana leaves her.

Diana catches sight of Ava's obvious indignation over her shoulder and just smiles at her.

"I promised you breakfast, did I not?"

Ava props herself up on her elbows, her head now shaking in disbelief. "Yeah, _and?_ "

"And an Amazon never breaks her promise." Diana answers with a simple shrug.

Ava scoffs at her while sitting up completely. "Can't it wait?"

Diana raises her brow in return. "I don't know, can it?"

In that moment Ava's stomach chooses to growl loudly. She blushes and covers her stomach self-consciously, mumbling, "It always does that."

Diana just gives her a knowing smile. "I will be downstairs."

As soon as Diana walks out of the room, Ava groans to herself and flops back onto the bed like an undignified starfish.

"....you good, babe?"

Ava admittedly startles at Sara's sudden return. Damn assassin stealth.

"No."

Sara chuckles and moves to stand between her legs. She reaches over and grabs Ava by the arms, gently pulling her up into a sitting position. "Well, well, well, don't you look thoroughly kissed." Sara teases, and Ava's hand flies to her mouth, embarrassed. "Come on, babe, if we're good maybe french toast won't be the only thing on the menu."

Ava laughs at her brow waggle, but also blushes too. "Sara!"

Sara just smiles and shrugs. "I'm just saying, that Amazon goddess of ours looks good enough to eat."

"Believe me, I know." Ava mutters, pushing herself to her feet and beginning to untuck her shirt from her pants. "I'll meet you downstairs. I'm just gonna change real quick."

"No, no, no leave that on." Sara sidesteps in front of her, causing Ava to frown.

"What, why?"

If she's not going to work, why does she need to be in her uniform?

"Trust me." Sara says with a vague smile.

Ava tilts her head, throwing her a curious look. "I always do but I'd still like to be clued in, please."

Sara rolls her eyes, then sighs and explains, "Diana likes the outfit."

Ava furrows her brow, unsure if this was Sara just joking with her. "She told you that?"

Sara shakes her head, chuckling slightly, "She didn't have to. Her eyes said it for her. I first noticed it when you two met, then again today when you were getting ready for work."

Ava glances down at herself, totally mystified. Her pantsuit was hardly anything special.

"Yeah," Sara follows her gaze with nod, seeming to be thinking something along the same lines, "For whatever reason she really digs the poly-blend. It kind of makes me question her taste."

Ava looks up and scoffs sarcastically, "Thanks, babe."

"I just meant her taste in clothes." Sara laughs, her hands coming up to rest reassuringly on Ava's shoulders. "Her taste in _you_ , that I totally get."

Ava smiles in spite of herself as Sara rises up on her toes and kisses her lips once again. Ava squeezes her hip affectionately, then moves to pull away.

"Hold on." Sara says, stopping her yet again.

Ava sighs a little in exasperation. She watches as Sara's hands slide from her shoulders, down across her chest, and her eyebrow shoots up accordingly.

"Sara, really?" Ava begins to protest, but Sara swats away her attempt to stop her from undoing the top buttons on her shirt.

"Humor me, would you? I'm curious to see what it'll lead to."

Unwittingly, Ava flashes back to Diana's very enthusiastic kisses and her face gets hot all over again.

Ava quickly shakes her head of the thought.

Not that she was entirely opposed to a repeat performance so soon, but she'd at least like for them to go on one date with Diana before things started getting truly physical.

"Distractions in the kitchen are what lead to burnt food and house fires." Ava argues, halting Sara's movement with a gentle hand around her wrist.

"They also lead to really great sex, if previous experience has told us anything." Sara smirks, pressing her body into Ava's.

Ava blushes at the reminder, but wisely refrains from encouraging her.

"I'm gonna change." she says instead, walking around Sara to get at their dresser.

"You're no fun." Sara pouts.

"I'm not spending my day off in my work clothes." Ava declares over her shoulder.

"Follow my advice and you'll be spending your day off wearing no clothes at all."

Ava shakes her head in disagreement. "Diana's not exactly weak-willed. I highly doubt a few undone buttons would have her self-control out the window."

"Not with that attitude." Sara scoffs.

Ava just rolls her eyes. She opens her drawer and begins searching for something to wear.

Sara comes up beside her and rests her cheek against Ava's arm. "If you have to change, at least wear that one." she sighs, pointing out a baby blue tank top.

Ava eyes her skeptically. "Why?"

"Because the fabric's thin and when you wear it, you can totally see your—"

Ava whirls around, face flushing with embarrassment, and Sara runs away, cackling. "Go help Diana with breakfast!" she orders, barely stifling a laugh as she points toward the door.

"Oh, I'll help her alright..." Sara tosses her a saucy smile over her shoulder, eyebrows waggling, and Ava just wads up the tank top and throws it after her.

Ava shakes her head to herself after Sara leaves. She grabs the top off the floor and neatly folds it back into place in her drawer. She opts for a less revealing shirt and a pair of shorts.

She walks down the stairs a few minutes later, now dressed comfortably in her robe and slippers.

Ava looks up, expecting to find Sara and Diana in the midst of cooking, only to find them making out like a pair of horny teenagers against the kitchen counter instead.

_Oh good lord._

Due to her shock, her foot completely misses the next step, and before Ava knows it, her ass is completely on the floor.

Ava tosses her head back and blows the lingering strand of hair out of her face.

_God, these two were gonna be the death of her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long! Thanks for reading!


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